Brandon Roy to the Lakers? Not So Fast…
Chris Palmer of ESPN went to his Twitter account on May 30th to share his thoughts about former Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy and talks of a possible NBA comeback. The city of Portland remembers that painful December day when Roy took a medical retirement before Trail Blazers opened practice due to bum knees and hasn’t played since, but is open to suiting back into a Blazers uniforms or to another team.
Palmer promptly tweeted “Someone who could help the Lakers: Brandon Roy. Based on what I’m told he could be back in the league next year.”
This caused plenty of people to actually freak out, thinking that Roy next season would team up with Kobe Bryant and bring the Lakers back to champion contenders and break the hearts of the Blazers.
Let’s just get a few things corrected: Palmer didn’t tweet that Roy and the Lakers are already in talks. He’s simply stating a team that could use his help and the Lakers could be one of them, and had no reliable source. Second, I highly doubt that Portland would ever think about letting Roy walk away before setting some kind an offer to bring him back. He’s the face of this franchise, people are still wearing his jersey and I’m still watching highlight videos on YouTube. It was speculated that Paul Allen even privately told Roy after he retired that he would have an open spot in the front office and all he would need to do is ask.
What would happen if Roy was seen wearing gold and purple? I think people in Portland would be so upset, tears would be shed and the city would instantly become a depressed war zone. I can’t even imagine him in another teams’ uniform. It just can’t happen, can it?
I don’t see the Lakers picking him up or taking the risk, he can surely pitch in some scoring coming off the bench for Bryant, but the Lakers would rather want to retool their roster with younger players or free agency to add depth. He can be a leader for the second unit, but his comeback there could end up being a disappointment as it was for him last year. A little of fire and spice here and there (a la Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks) or end up scoring under five points and disappearing for much of the game.
I totally understand Roy’s determination to come back to the league. He’s only 27-years old and would be playing in his prime years, he’s got the juice left in the tank but his knees have betrayed him. A knowledgeable friend of mine suggested that Roy would at least five years to prepare himself back to league shape, a year or two to rest and recover, another year to go under surgery and one year after that to lift weights and get his body into fighting form, so we’re looking at a return for the 2016-17 season?
If Roy does decide to give it another go in the next few seasons then I would welcome him. I sure miss Brandon Roy and so do the Blazers. No matter where he ends up, I would never boo him.
Nicholas Filipas