Theo signed for FIVE more years!

[Nicholasp27]

Portland just extended Theo for FIVE, count them, FIVE more years

[emeans]

Big mistake!! Theo has lost a step or two and he is injury prone. He is not the same player he was when he played with the 76ers. The injuries have slowed him down.

[OGRat]

He played pretty well after the trade, and he was a difference maker for the Blazers b/c he anchored their defense. Five years is pushing it though.

[Diesel]

Plus this yr...

I disagree with emeans. I think he will not be a health problem. I think his game is limited though. It just goes to show how desperate the market is for a big man. With the Shape that Shaq is in, I look for him to dominate for 3 more years.

[Weez]

agreeing with Diesel here, calling him injury prone is a little harsh. the hip one...that was odd. can't claim to understand all of it. the hand break...that was nothing.

he played extremely well for the Blazers last year...ridiculously so. I think that what this shows you...is that the Blzers are a) taking a page from the Knicks book of contract negotiations b) that they're going to keep Randolph, who works great next to Theo (whereas we all know how Theo/SAR work as a tandem).

SAR has still yet to be shipped out...to where, o, to where...???

[emeans]

Theo was very injury prone in Atlanta. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but he missed a very high percentage of games when he was with Atlanta. He finally played a lot last year, but at one point I thought that he may retire.

Theo is past his prime. I think Theo played on pure happy adrenaline last year. He wasn't happy with Atlanta. Portland had one thing that Atlanta didn't have and that was hope for making the playoffs. Lets see what he does for an entire year in Portland.

[Weez]

when theo came to us, injured, in the 2001 season, it was with a "broken wrist." This was in fact a broken scaphoid bone (for all you med student buffs out there); the scaphoid, as i've told many times earlier on this matter, is the most commonly broken bone in the body (that isn't a "long bone" like a clavicle, humerous, or fibula). I broke mine last summer playing basketball. I cannot recall if Theo's injury necessitated surgery, I don't think that it did, thus his injury was relatively minor (as the breaking of that bone is often associated with displacement of the bone, which innevitably leads to a "shearing" of the single artery that supplies the bone (in a distal to proximal manner, quite unique...and dangerous).

The hip thing, which limited his playing time throughout most of the 2002season...was weird. I don't know enough about it to really comment. but it appears to have been dealt with and fixed...

[DominiqueWilkins]

Quote:

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Big mistake!! Theo has lost a step or two and he is injury prone. He is not the same player he was when he played with the 76ers. The injuries have slowed him down.

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I agree, it was a big mistake by Portland, but what do you expect? Portland is known for making mistakes when they resign/sign people.

[Diesel]

There were some things that Portland couldn't risk. One was that they couldn't risk going into negotiations with Randolph without a C. Let's face it, like him or not, Theo is a C (kinda). I'm Theo's biggest critic when it comes to toughness because he shows absolutely none. I think a bigger mistake for PTL was to trade away Dale Davis. That will come back to haunt them but once Davis was gone, PTL needed some leverage to keep Randolph.

Look at their schemes. First, they keep big money SAR in the fold because having him means that Randolph can't exactly break the bank in his asking. Then they pay Theo. This was a neccessity. If Theo hits the Center starved market filled with teams with money, Theo would have gone somewhere else. That's not to suggest that PTL won't have money because PTL will have tons... However, why risk it.

The bottom line is that the market will afford no real Centers except Big Z and Diop and neither of those guys are worth the money they will probably get. Theo's not worth much money either, but with his relatively cheap contract, it makes it easier to sign him now than to try to bid on him later.