Honestly with that contract they gave Conley and considering the owner in Memphis I don't see how they pay the guy. They need to pay Z-Bo as he was their all-star and O.J.Mayo isn't just going to walk.. We'll see but if we offer him something huge (P.A. can do that) then I don't see how they match. Rudy Gay is making 100million.

I think he is a wonderful fit next to LMA, the guy is massive. And another thing that is great is that he is just about a good as passer as LMA so he can transition right to the starter once Camby retires. I think we end up resigning Joel probably to be the backup but I'm not sure we'll see. I really like Marc Gasol on this team though and he can help Rudy..

For the time I've been on here (not very long!) I've heard that the Blazers need to run and push the ball to get fast break points or easy buckets as some said. That sounds great and all, but you do realize that means Greg, Joel, and Mc won't be getting all those offensive rebounds? Even LMA to an extent, and Nico. I think the offensive glass is our "easy buckets". Not to mention we negate those easy buckets to an extent but never turning the ball over. I think we're going to be a pretty efficient offense next year. Gimme a great perimiter defense (Kobe & Melo both said Wesley Matthews was their toughest defender of the playoffs) Nicolas Batum who I believe will make the all NBA defensive team along with Wesley. We're gonna have a really good defense next year guys, because our paint will be protected more so than any team and will have the most versatile center trio with Oden the beast, MC the patrolling shot blocker, and Joel the 7 foot BANGER.

I don't wanna trade everybody away, but I agree some tweaks should be made. If we could turn some of our euroes/rookies/young talent (Rudy in particular) I would be very happy to bring in a solid player in a 3 for 1 or 4 for 1 type trade. I don't think PA is too worried about the luxury tax too so it's a good thing!

I know some of you guys are thinking the 92 Blazer teams with the easy baskets, but the way Nate does things can still work if our guys are healthy.

Hey Kings fans, wherever you may be! (Bill schonely!) Blazermaniac here. My favorite team is the Blazers and when I look at my team going forward I'm very happy about the prospects. I see a few finals runs minimum and maybe a WCF run as soon as next year. But when I see the Kings I see the team that scares me the most and the team that will crush all my dreams of a NBA championship in Portland potentially. When I look at DMC and Tyreke Evans (NaPG) I don't care what you have around them going forward. Give me Sean May, Adam Morrison(The Stache!), Greg Oden's ACL, Phil Jackson in his prime, and that old guy from the gym and even though they'll stink that year they'll pick up another stud top 3-5 pick and become the new Miami Heat. I think Cousins is gonna get his act together, add in Landry, Dalembert who had a Finals run (Iverson Baby!), Casspi, and some other nice players you got a team around the talent. A great coach in Mr. Westphal who I respect tons. A very good owner, great fan base, etc.

I'm looking forward to Blazer vs Kings battles in the future. Lakers are going to regress very soon and one of our respective teams will dethrone them. OKC will be decent but I think we'll both beat them if DMC and Oden are healthy. Hoping it's my team, fearing it's yours.

After this game it's become painfully obvious that there is something going wrong when it comes to large leads in the fourth quarter. Off the top of my head, the NO/MEMPHIS/UTAH game come to mind, all of which equally disturbing. So I'm making this Fan post to get a legitimate discussion going on what you think it is.

Personally, I think that it's too predicable in terms of the sets we run and when the defensive intensity steps up in the fourth quarter they can stop pretty much all of our sets. Our bread and butter play, the pick & pop with LMA is money in quarters 1-3 and we rely on it so much but when it comes to the fourth quarter LMA doesn't come through. Now I'm not knocking LMA, bigs don't exactly tear up 4th quarters in terms of scoring on a regular basis but we shouldn't be putting him in position to take and miss these shots.

Next up is the Brandon Roy ISO, again it's a great play but I had a few problems with it tonight. 1. Brandon Roy ISO's are fine and dandy, if they're actually Brandon Roy ISO's not Brandon Roy at 50% ISO's. 2. It's very easy to stop as they always shade over another man or bring the actual double team, we could take advantage of this if we had some off the ball movement.

Sure there's a couple more plays, the give it to Miller and let him try and manufacture some points, but that also will only get you so far. So what do YOU think needs to be done? Personally I'd like to see more Roy moving off the ball. Also I think Martell and Rudy are great at getting open on screens and that's a bit under utilized. LMA rolling to the basket would be nice, he has pretty nice hands and can catch the ball in traffic. Also why not push the ball more, if you have a number advantage than take advantage of it, if not then pull it out and run your original sets, considering we don't initiate most of our offense in the fourth quarter until there's 10 seconds left I don't see the problem in this.

So what needs to be done?

I've been thinking about the current situation and the situation that will present itself next year. And no matter how many scenarios I run through my mind I find myself struggling to come out with a positive end result, short term and long term. This year, as you all know has been injury plagued to the max. That being said, we're still in the hunt for the NW division and we have some guys coming back. Of the guys coming back, none of them are centers, which of course will be our doom this year unless we make a move.

Then of course there's next year, when we have everyone back healthy, minutes will be the issue. Rudy and Bayless are both very young and very very good. But they won't be happy getting like 10 minutes a game next year in backup 1/2 spots. Assuming we resign trout, the minutes will be pretty much filled up at every spot other than the guard where it will be over flowing.

Long term and short term solution? Move Steve Blake. He's an expiring contract, and has a decent amount of appeal to a team like the Wizards. They need a point guard who can shoot the three. Give Steve Blake and cash considerations to the Wizards for Brendan Haywood, if that doesn't work add a second rounder. The contracts are both expiring so we wouldn't have to re-sign him next year if Joel comes back to us, the salaries add up and all of that. Brendan Haywood is a solid center and a big body who knows how to bang, defend the paint, and score without getting plays called for him.. Of course, there's other big guys out there who are highly available. But this is just option A in my mind.

By doing this, it saves the season and fills the only void needed filling right now - Center. It gives us some hope for success in the playoffs aswell. Brendan Haywood isn't some All-NBA Center, but how many dominating centers are there even? We can win with this guy. And of course, next season it frees up some minutes for Bayless And Rudy. Of course assuming we resign trout, the minutes would look like this.

Pg – Miller(25mins)/Bayless(15mins)/Roy(8mins)
Sg – Roy (25mins)/Fernandez(20mins)/Bayless(3mins)
Sf – Batuum (22mins)/Webster(20mins)/Roy(6mins)
Pf – Aldridge(28mins)/Outlaw(20mins)
C – Oden(24mins)/Pryzybilla(18mins)/Aldridge(6mins)

That adds up to 240 minutes. Which of course if how many minutes are played in a game. Of course, there would be some Mills thrown into there to change the pace, maybe some Howard if we re-sign him or JP/DC.