Surprise At The '07 Lottery As Blazers Take First Pick EveryJoe

Last year, the Portland Trailblazers were pretty disappointed to have landed the 4th pick in the draft despite having the worst record last season. But as we all know, Portland came out of that draft with two lottery talents in LaMarcus Aldridge and rookie of the year Brandon Roy and a pretty solid point guard in Sergio Rodriguez too. This year, much to the disappointment of both the Memphis Grizzlies and the Boston Celtics, the Blazers have the luxury of being able to draft Greg Oden or Kevin Durant with the 1st overall pick. The Seattle Supersonics pick second while the Atlanta Hawks pick third. The Memphis Grizzlies pick fourth while the Boston Celtics pick fifth.

When I saw the news, my initial reaction was laughter. I’m deeply sorry for all you Celtics and Grizzlies fans out there but up to now I find it quite funny that neither of the two teams even landed with a top 3 pick. It could be my warped sense of humor but the fact that all this talk about drafting Oden and Durant by both the Grizzlies and the Celtics will now pretty much amount to nothing just cracks me up. But seriously, a part of me feels for those two teams, especially the Celtics since the lottery has screwed them once again just like back in 1997.

As we all know, Greg Oden is the consensus number 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. The Blazers would love to have him on board but I think they need to make a few changes this off season to get the most out of drafting Oden. You see, in terms of fit Kevin Durant actually is a better selection. Looking at the Blazers roster you’ll see that they’re pretty needing in small forward help and that’s a position Durant can play and play well. Had the Blazers won the 2nd pick, that’s the scenario the Blazers would have planned for. But since they have the 1st pick, no executive in his right mind would pass up the chance to draft Oden but since the team has quite a number of big men already, they should trade one of them (Lafrentz or Magloire) for a small forward who can fill that void. A team with Oden, Aldridge, and Roy to solidify the young talent can go very far!

Leo

I agree that Portland will make some moves, but you’re option…well aren’t really options. First off Magilore is an unrestricted free agent. So needless to say Portland won’t need him with the addition of Oden. Also, Lafrentz is one of those guys that’s very hard to move. He kind of sucks plus has a massive contract. I say, look for a deal that brings Rashard Lewis to Portland (he loves McMillan, Portland has said he is their #1 free agent target, and the Blazers just got a lot more appealing to free agents) and moves Randolph either to Seattle or to Chicago in a 3 team sign and trade with other players to have salaries match.

I’ll bet you a beer that next year’s Blazers line-up will be:

c- Oden
pf- Aldridge
sf- Lewis
sg- Roy
pt- Jack/ Sergio/ Some random veteran

Sounds like at least a 6th seed to me and a real contended in a few years.
http://myspace.com/myspaceis4suckers Sean

The funniest part of this situation is the fact that it has been said by many that the celtics “tanked” the latter half of the season in order to have the best chance to earn the first pick. Once again they’re screwed. As you said, this is now twice, along with 1997. If the celtics wouldve won that lottery and gotten tim duncan, the east would be a whole new story. It just goes to show you, not everything in life is guaranteed.