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Portland Trail Blazers (Last Year: 50-32)
C: Marcus Camby/Fabricio Oberto/Greg Oden/Joel Pryzbilla
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge/Dante Cunningham
SF: Nicolas Batum/Wesley Matthews/Luke Babbitt
SG: Brandon Roy/Rudy Fernandez/Elliot Williams
PG: Andre Miller/Armon Johnson/Patrick Mills
Head Coach: Nate McMillan (6th season)
2010-11 Team Salary: Approximately $68.1 million
Off-Season Grade: C+
As a Marquette graduate, I was absolutely thrilled when Wesley Matthews inked his deal with the Blazers. At the same time though, I was floored that Portland would throw that kind of money at him especially when they already had three guys who played the same position as Matthews. The former Golden Eagle will be a tremendous role player but was probably not worth that much money.
The other deals were minute in terms of their impact on the roster. The Blazers pretty much dealt Martell Webster for salary dump purposes as Gomes’ deal was not guaranteed for this season. I like the Jerryd Bayless trade especially since Portland has a ton of depth at guard. Fabricio Oberto provides an experienced, savvy veteran who is an insurance policy for the injured Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla.
2010-2011 Outlook:
A few years ago, the Jail Blazers were a laughing stock of the NBA. After taking a new direction with the roster, Portland has once again turned the franchise into a serious threat in the Western Conference, winning at least 50 games in each of the last two seasons. Portland has been unable to get over the hump of winning a playoff series though.
Brandon Roy has become a star and one of the better two guards in the league in just four years. His ability to play off the ball or act as the point guard makes him a dangerous weapon. Portland finally put a veteran point guard alongside Roy last season in Andre Miller who was solid but not spectacular.
There is a lot of depth at the guard spot with the addition of Matthews who is valuable because of his toughness on defense and ability to knock down open shots. Rudy Fernandez was reportedly an unhappy camper this summer and wanted to be traded. If the Blazers can keep him happy, he is extremely effective because of his versatility and ability to play the one, two or three. Armon Johnson, Elliot Williams and Patrick Mills are young and inexperienced, and should not be significant contributors.
Nicolas Batum seems to be poised for a breakout year. There was a rumor before the NBA Draft that Minnesota offered Portland the fourth-overall pick for Batum and the Blazers said, “No thanks.” If that report was indeed true then it says just how highly the franchise thinks of their young small forward.
The ageless wonder Marcus Camby and LaMarcus Aldridge will man the frontcourt, but depth up front is an area of concern early in the season as Oden and Prybilla will miss a good chunk of time as they recover from injury. Oberto was signed late in the preseason when Jeff Pendergraph went down with a season-ending injury. Undersized Dante Cunningham now becomes the backup power forward and will be a liability against bigger, stronger NBA fours. Portland will likely also use a smaller lineup early on with Batum moving to the four.
Simply making the postseason will not be good enough anymore for this franchise. However, I am not sure they have done anything to establish themselves as a team that can make some noise in the Western Conference playoffs.
Looking Ahead to the Summer of 2011:
Portland has a couple important decisions to make. Oden will be a restricted free agent and has a qualifying offer worth almost $8.8 million. That is a lot of money to pay someone who just cannot stay healthy. Since there is a new front office regime, management may be open to just parting ways with the former No. 1 overall pick and let him become somebody else’s issue. Of course if Oden comes back healthy and proves to be a valuable low post presence, he could just as easily return for another season.
The other decision is regarding Miller who has a team option on the final year of his contract worth $7.8 million. That is a pretty reasonable price for a starting point guard in the NBA and it would seem more likely that he would return since the Blazers dealt Bayless. Przybilla’s contract also comes off the books which will free up about $7.4 million in cap space.
2010-2011 NBA Power Ranking: 9th
Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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