Portland’s Front Office Foul For Asking That Brandon Roy Retire"/>
There will be plenty of moves made in this year’s offseason in the NBA. With the exception of the absence of a CBA, teams’ main focus will be restructuring their teams to combat some new and old league superstars that are rising in the wake of a new age in basketball. The Western Conference will see more retooling than the Eastern Conference.
There are systems in the west that demand change such as Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks (if they do not win the NBA Finals) and more moves within the Denver Nuggets. The most interesting turn of events, however, does not lie within either of these franchises. The Portland Trailblazers, no matter how underappreciated, have some significant roster pieces to move around. The most important of them all would have to be Brandon Roy.
Even with his injuries, Roy was able to redefine his aura in a game against the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. When all had been lost, Roy was the singlehanded influence in how the end of the game had been determined. Although Portland went on to lose the series, it was seen as the rebirth of a star.
Or at least that is what I thought, until it was reported that the Trailblazers were looking for Brandon Roy’s early retirement.
I was stunned to hear that this was even a viable option for the brand. If Roy were to retire, it would not be a successful business decision for him or the team that seems to want this to happen so badly. The repercussions suffered on each end do not amount to the cap space that Portland would sustain. It seemed as if Roy was just whining at first, but now the executives making the decisions in Blazer Land seem a bit brash and inconsistent.
He may not be able to return to his days back in the 2008 season where he was averaging 22.6 points or even just last season when he averaged 21.5. His knees have betrayed his athleticism and he may not be able to make it playing big minutes like he used to. But taking a man out of the game, whose heart and soul is clearly in it, seems to be a bit foul.
Not to mention, he gave this team the opportunity to succeed when none of the consistent starters were making things happen against an older Mavs squad. What draft picks would even amount to that type of clutch success? I hate to say but this draft is not barely as stacked as people make it seem.
The backlash from the fans that Portland has so immaculately manufactured will be obsolete. They will lose faith in the mentality of the Trailblazers’ front office and will wonder how they could let such a player be swept away because of the league’s newfound interest in striking will the fire is hot instead of sitting back to observe and determine the greatest move for the long term survival of the organization.
Teams need to begin treating franchises more like startup companies instead of lemonade stands.
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