Andre Miller is a classic point guard — a guy who wants the ball in his hands to create shots for himself and others, to set up the offense.
Brandon Roy is part of a new breed of elite two guards — a guy who wants the ball in his hands to create shots for himself and others, to run the offense.
See where there could be some conflict?
Roy has expressed that concern to the Blazers, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.
One plugged-in person with knowledge of Portland’s inner workings told me Roy spoke with Blazers management less than two weeks ago about the need for Miller and him to part ways. While Roy did not issue a trade demand or request, I’m told he said something to this effect:
This is not going to work, so you should trade one of us. Whether it’s him or whether it’s me, somebody needs to be traded because this is not going to work.
Portland general manager Rich Cho, as well as Roy’s agent, Bob Myers, denied that such a discussion ever happened…
I’m told that Roy respects Miller’s game but that he just doesn’t think the two of them are a good fit. Roy wants to handle the ball like Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. And think about it, none of those guys have ever played next to a good, ball-dominating point guard like Miller.
If true, it’s a pretty shrewd demand by Roy, because right now he is untradeable. He is in the first year of a five-year contract extension worth $82 million at the same time doctors have said he basically has no cartilage left in his knees (so the issues he has had this year likely are chronic). Throw in the fact he is looking to get a teammate traded when his game has slipped and you have someone nobody is going to take on.
As for Miller, you can bet teams are calling. But Cho has to figure out the big picture for the Blazers first. The old plan was to build a contender around the offensive game of Roy and the defense of Greg Oden in the paint. But injuries have set them both back and scrapped that plan. Portland has to start evolving into its next iteration, and Cho has to figure out what that is before he makes any drastic moves.
