On this July 4th many of you are celebrating the Blazers' independence from Hedo and his bloated contract. As I was one of the earliest and most ardent supporters of Hedo becoming a Blazer, unfortunately I don't have the luxury of saying, "I never really wanted him here anyway." But regardless of where you stood on the Hedo/Hedon't debate over whether He fit with Portland, its time to get up, dust ourselves off and intrepidly look to the future. 

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Well not exactly. That is the headline of a story that appears on the Boston Globe web-site:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/articles/2009/01/01/nba_admits_referee_mistake/

Here is what I posted on the site in response to the story:

"This is hilarious. Apparently people in Boston don't understand math or the English language.

QUOTE
NBA Admits Referee Mistake
"While the NBA's head of officials admitted that an "unfortunate incident" affected the Celtics' 91-86 loss at Portland Tuesday, the game's result will not be changed."
END QUOTE

First to the math -- How could the result of a five point loss be reversed due to a play that only cost Celtics two points?

Now to the English language -- The contents of this article contradict the headline and the very basis of the story. According to the article, the NBA did not admit any mistake. They said, "the play was administered properly by our crew."

Yes it was an "unfortunate incident" for the Celtics, and maybe the rule should be changed in the off-season, maybe not.

What a joke of an "article".

Rip City "

I felt so strongly about this that I e-mailed Marc Spears the author of the article and copied my post into the e-mail. He was nice enough to respond to my e-mail (which I respect very much) and here's what he wrote:

"I don't write the headlines. Happy new year. Celtics believe mistake ruined momentum they had going.

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld."

He makes a decent point that he doesn't write the headlines, but some Bostonian did, and the thesis of the article is pretty clear even without the headline. I still maintain it is an article in search of a story.

Here is a link to the Boston Globe article about the game, written by Spears in which Doc Rivers admits that his players let that call affect them for the resto of the game:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/12/31/blazers_rattle_celtics/

Here is what I posted in response to that article:

What is the point of all the whining about that one call? It only netted the Blazers one point, and the Celtics lost the game by five. Rivers admitted that the one call took the players out of the game, and yet they were still whining about it after the game, eventhough it didn't even affect the outcome. This is the mentally tough Championship team?

I used to root for Garnett, but now it has become clear to everyone around the league that he is a punk player. The way he tried to slap around LaMarcus Aldridge was one small example. Some players mature and mellow after winning a Ring, Garnett has done the opposite, and that doesn't say much about his character.

Do Boston fans realize that Garnett's antics are quickly making him the biggest joke around the NBA? He acts like a tough guy when everybody knows he's probably never been in a real fight in his life. He was reportedly staring down Blazer players as they walked through the tunnel at the end of the game - what a joke. He knows he's protected by the rules of the NBA and by the law. I'd love to see him in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere with either Joel Pryzbilla or Greg Oden.

As a Blazer fan, I look forward to the next few years when the Blazers have Pryzbilla (The Vanilla Gorilla) and big Greg to keep Garnett's mouth shut.  

I have been reading a lot of posts about RLEC and the possible trades that could be devised around it. People seem to be completely dismissing the possibility of letting the contract expire and using the resulting cap-space to sign a free agent in the off-season. I think this might be the best course of action. I think KP will strongly consider signing Hedo Turkoglu who will be an unrestricted free agent. You may disagree with what follows, but just remember who said it first.

Signing Turkoglu is one of the best possible uses of RLEC.

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I hate to be negative in any way about our team this year (especially with regard to an interesting and intelligent guy like Channing Frye)  But -- it seems to me that Frye is a prime candidate for a mid-season trade:

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Josh Smith is obviously one of the most impressive young talents in the NBA. At just 22 years old, he is already a four year veteran of the NBA with solid playoff experience. The 2005 slam dunk contest winner and defensive specialist at the small forward position would certainly fit in nicely with the Blazers' young athletic group.

According to this article by ESPN's Marc Stein from yesterday, Smith (a restricted free agent) wants out of Atlanta. (The article also talks about the Darius Miles situtation.) 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=NBA-Notes-080719

The article mentions a sign and trade as a possibility. While it specifically mentions the Mavericks and Josh Howard as the focus of some speculation, I couldn't help thinking that Portland has a lot to offer in the way of trade fodder.  (I'm thinking Martell Webster plus Raef's expiring contract, and maybe other assets such as Sergio, Kopponen, or those four 2009 second round draft picks that the Blazers now own.)

I think Smith would fit in perfectly as the starting small forward for the Blazers. A future line-up of Bayless, Roy, Smith, Aldridge, and Oden would have the entire league shaking in their boots (if they aren't already.)

Here is an article from 7/10/08 that talks about how Smith visited with the Clippers after Elton Brand vacated for Philadelphia.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2008-07-10-moves-roundup_N.htm?csp=34

I realize this is all rank speculation, but it's fun. I hope KP has an eye on this. Let me know what you think.

Finally, here is the relevant text from the first article in case the link doesn't work:

"Josh Smith's increasing reluctance to return to the Atlanta Hawks has little to do with Mike Woodson, despite repeated media suggestions that Smith is eager to play for a new coach.

Smith and Woodson are fine, one confidante insists. Smith's frustration with the Hawks is the slow-moving state of negotiations, with Smith apparently still waiting for a serious contract proposal nearly three weeks into free agency.

Not that this is a grand surprise given the Hawks' rep for spending or a quandary exclusive to Smith. The only team in the league with salary-cap space to throw at premier restricteds such as Smith, Charlotte's Emeka Okafor and Chicago's Luol Deng is the Memphis Grizzlies, who have no plans to make their money available this summer, preferring to focus on trade possibilities. So the Hawks, Bobcats and Bulls are naturally proceeding slowly and conservatively, figuring that their prized assets have limited leverage.

Which is true. Threatening to sign a one-year qualifying offer that would lead to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2009 is pretty much the only way Smith can apply pressure on the Hawks now.

Yet I suspect the sign-and-trade chatter will begin to pick up, maybe in all three cases, with Smith said to be especially eager to move on.

I wonder, for example, if my coaching pal who asked me why the Dallas Mavericks aren't trying to assemble a deal that features former ACC player of the year Josh Howard going to Atlanta in some sort of package for Smith isn't onto something."