A look toward 2010-2011 for the T-Blazers

Ty Hampton
Blazers Blogger

*Portland Trail Blazers '09-'10 Regular Season record: 50-32 (3rd in NW division, 6th in West Conf)

-- First off, I've got to give mad props to my boys for surviving the severe injury woes last season and coming battling like true warriors. With Oden and Pryzbilla out for nearly the entire year and a slew of other injuries including Roy and Fernandez for large stretches made 2009-10 a true rally year. And rally they did -- to a Game 6 in the 1st round against the enfuego Phoenix Suns.

Roy showed a ton of courage and heart playing on a torn miniscus in that round and gave the team a noticeable boost in spirit, even if he didn't have his step. Batum, Andre Miller, Aldridge, Webster and Bayless stepped up huge when it mattered most.

At the end of the day the Blazers overachieved considering the circumstances but continued to burst early season hopes bubbles with yet another disappointing injury plagued season from the chosen annointed one, former #1 pick Greg Oden.

The talk in P-Town is that Greg still has what it takes to be a great player in this league and some think his breakout year could be now. I'm not jumping aboard that train just yet, but I've got to admit that if the Blazers get on a roll again and Oden is healthy, that's one thing the Lakers don't have -- an aggressive, defensive-minded 7-footer who can bully Gasol all over the paint. I mean, the guys is a monumental fail in comparison to the 2007 #2 pick Kevin Durant, but he's still only 22 years old people. Guys got a lot of upside.

Now the Blazers may have given up Martell Webster to acquire draft pick Luke Babbitt and swingman Ryan Gomes from the T-Wolves, but as the Jazz have picked up Al Jefferson it looks like the Blazers' 5-year, $32 million offer to pickup Wesley Matthews from Utah will go unmatched.

With Matthews, Roy, Miller, Bayless Fernandez, Elliot Williams, and either Patty Mills or Armon Johnson (2009 and 2010 draft picks battling for a spot on the roster) to make the team -- that's 7 guards... Smells like a pileup of players before a trade if you ask me.

Now anbody following the Blazers this off-season knows they would love to get their hands on Chris Paul, that is if the Hornets are actually willing to trade the star PG. With the free agent market well picked over by now, another big name guard on the trading block talk these days is Steve Nash now that is buddy Amare has shipped up to New York. Either guard would be a huge trade for the Blazers even if it means dealing some young talent like Matthews, Fernandez, Batum, Pryzbilla and Bayless.

A trade like that makes P-Town a competitor. If the Blazers don't make another big move this summer and keep everybody on board, I think we could advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs in 2011 but have trouble seeing us go much further.

Nash or CP3 people! That's the key, I am salivating over these 2 rumors and hope either make PDX their future home. Then again, I understand this is unlikely.

What is more likely is the prospect that the Blazers could land former Cavs GM Danny Ferry as their General Manager by the end of the week. A GM should come first, but I hope Ferry or whomever fills the big slot will make a move to improve the Blazers now rather than later.

Next time I will take a tour of the Blazers' new prospects followed by a depth chart at each position on the lineup card and hopefully there is something more than rumors to report on the GM and trade front soon.

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Miami Thrice...The Lebronathon & the Aftermath

Ty Hampton
Blazers Blogger

-- Last Thursday "The King" Lebron James made his infinite decision made public on a ludicrously egotistical 1-hour ESPN primetime special, a decision that was sure to change the NBA for the next decade – the 2010's or whatever you wanna call them. We had no idea what that impact would be though, until we heard the words "South Beach" slip from his $100 million lips.

Woweeeey! The prospect of D-Wade, Chris Bosh and Lebron coming together in a select town was an undoubtably tasty rumor after their postseasons had cumulatively ended too early for their liking, but I never, ever thought they would all put aside their egos enough to cut their spotlight time and their max contracts by a fraction to play together. And Miami? I mean Pat Riley is a great, great GM and coach who knows how to win, but I guess I always saw the new Big 3, or "Miami Thrice" as I've chosen to call them, teaming up in Chicago or New York.

Chicago seemed like a loaded roster for Lebron to join with Derek Rose, Noah, Carlos Boozer and Deng but ultimately it wasn't to be. Miami's weather and player appeal with Bosh and Wade already signed was too irresistible for the King to pass up and that decision has set the Heat up to win many, many championships under 3 big players who are all hitting their stride with their prime years just beginning. The history books of the NBA will be rewritten in South Beach – that fact, I have no doubt in.

Now there's been a lot of soap opera-style dissent and slamming on Lebron for "betraying" his hometown of Cleveland and doing it in such an aggregious fashion with the ESPN special. Is he a hero turned league villain now? Will he be haunted by the curse of Cleveland like that ding-bat owner Dan Gilbert of the Cavs bestowed on Lebron in what had to be the most insane rant I have ever seen by any professional sports owner in America. I mean wow! That dude really laid it on thick.

The fact is his claims are more ludicrous and out-of-line than James' hour-long special. The Cavs will not win a championship before the Heat, rather if he Gilbert keeps acting like a total egotistical nutcase the Cavs will never get enough talent to come to Cleveland for the 2010-11 season to even be a playoff contender.

Lebron may have not carried himself in the right way through this whole ordeal, but he wanted to WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS and moving Miami to play alongside Wade and Bosh did turn out to be his best possible way of doing that in the long term. Plus, Gilbert and the Cavs at no point got him the help necessary to win a championship in Cleveland and they have had several years to think about that leading up to Lebron's free-agency this summer. They failed, Lebron wanted to win more than he wanted to be loyal and the dude ultimately made a business decision that would make himself the happiest instead of his fans and that's what professional sports is all about people. Hate to burst your bubble but it happens every, single, day in their world…Lebron's just happened to be on live national television thanks to his terribly misled "crew".

How many rings do I think the Heat will win? A minimum of 3 and a max of 5 rings I'm saying at this point. Will they win next year? My take is no, but they will be in the Finals in the East – the Lakers might have too much size for them still though. Phil Jackson is a magical sage-like man who typically gets things his way and if he says he's coming back to L.A. for his final year as a coach to win yet another title (to complete his second 3-peat) well then I believe Phil. The Heat should give them a run for their money, that's for sure.

So for the next decade I see the Heat being in the championship hunt if not the decided winner. Who will be challenging them? Well the Magic certainly have some of the right pieces and youth to be a competitor in the East, as well as the loaded and youthful Chicago Bulls who are probably feeling a bit burned by Lebron right now. The Cavs are out of the picture unless they do something drastic here, and speaking of burned I think the Knicks and their lonestar Amare Stoudemire are also still very much in a rebuilding process up there. If they can get Carmelo in 2011 that would be their next big rumored piece, but as always the clock is ticking their Mr. Walsh.

The Celtics have retained the original Big 3 in Boston as well as picking up Jermaine O'Neal to play with Rondo and add to an already great role player cast. Talks of Shaq joining the Celtics or Hawks have also been floating around the league.

Then there's the Western Conference with a slew of dangerous teams. The Lakers are the repeat champions looking to go for a third and certainly will have a decent chance of doing so. The Denver Nuggets will be looking to avenge their postseason fall-out in 2010 after their skipper George Karl was not able to return to the team to finish the year.

The OKC Thunder are deadly dangerous with the Durantula and Westbrook leading the charge in giving the Lakers a serious run for their money in the 1st round last year. They are the real deal people. The Suns without Amare are probably a bit dried up in the desert, but who knows GM Steve Kerr may pull a swift one and get a great pickup this off-season.

The team for which I am the biggest fan of and the point of this blog is, of course, the Portland Trailblazers. Will they have a shot in 2010? That depends on a few big "ifs."

(See my next blog entry for the dirty details)

Ty Hampton
Blazers Blogger

Portland Trail Blazers '09-'10 Regular Season record: 50-32 (3rd in NW division, 6th in West Conf)

First off, I've got to give mad props to m boys for surviving the severe injury woes last season and coming battling like true warriors. With Oden and Pryzbilla out for nearly the entire year and a slew of other injuries including Roy and Fernandez for large stretches made 2009-10 a true rally year. And rally they did -- to a Game 6 in the 1st round against the enfuego Phoenix Suns.

Roy showed a ton of courage and heart playing on a torn miniscus in that round and gave the team a noticeable boost in spirit, even if he didn't have his step. Batum, Andre Miller, Aldridge, Webster and Bayless stepped up huge when it mattered most.

At the end of the day the Blazers

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The Madness Begins

Ty Hampton
Blazers Blogger

-- Hello sports fans! My name is Ty Hampton and I am your Blazers Blogger, a source for updates and commentary on the NBA and more specifically -- Oregon's finest Portland Trail Blazers.

I will be posting an update on the free agent "Lebronathon" situation shortly and the type of impact that will have on the NBA next season and possibly for years to come. Further I will put in my 2 cents on the Blazers GM search and how its impacting the organization's ability to pickup some key free agents this off-season?

Does the team need to be in the hunt for a couple signees right now? Some say yes, some say no. I say maybe. If its a move for Chris Paul (which is being talked about) I say most definitely.

More on this and other off-season talk to follow.

Thanks for reading.

Ty
Blazers Blogger

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