Future Rivals To Our Hopeful Dynasty

All great dynasty's, and most great teams always have a hated rival, a team that always plays them well and beats them often enough to keep the rivalry, well, a rivalry. Since it is a forgone conclusion that the Blazers will be a great team for the next 10-15 years I thought it would be fun to try to forecast which teams in the league have the possibility of becoming our most hated rivals of the Roy/Oden/Aldridge years.

The Jazz is a logical pick; they lead the division right now with a talented young group centered around Boozer and Williams. This tandem will likely keep the Jazz relevant for the next 10+ years. They also have Jerry Sloan, enough said. The Jazz as a rival also works because of the history these teams have with each other. Who can forget wearing band-aids to a playoff game in tribute to Brian Grant? The Jazz will certainly be our division rivals early on, but I wonder if they have the superstar power to compete with the Blazers for more then a few years.

The Sonics are even more logical as rivals than the Jazz. They are the closest geographical team to Portland and have a great history with the Blazers. Nate, Roy, and Webster are all Seattle guys, the Sonics have Luke Ridnour, probably my favorite Duck in the league, and they have Durant who we passed on with the first pick. Blazers-Sonics match-ups will always be about Oden and Durant. The Sonics are young, and have more then a few draft picks coming to them in the next three years, they have superstar power and history, the only thing working against them is they are probably going to be the Oklahoma City Sonics (or whatever). To me, that kills the whole thing, and as a Blazer fan it's the most tragic part of the Sonics relocation. But it does open the door for one other NW team.

The Timberwolves are a long shot, and as long as Kevin Mchale is running the show up north I don't think it will ever materialize, but they are a young talented team that could grow into a challenger in the division. There would also be the great story of Roy for Foye. Right now it's clear that the Blazers have gotten the best of that trade but Foye still has a lot to say (as does Roy), a few playoff battles with those two going at it could go a long way in developing a heated rivalry. I'm not sure the T-Wolves have the superstar power to keep with us right now. Foye could step up, I think Gnomes is a good role player for them, as is Brewer, Jefferson is too much like Randolph for me to give him much credit yet. There is certainly potential here.

L*kers. Too easy. They have Kobe, and they've beaten us in the playoffs too many times. I think the really interesting thing here is what happens with Bynum. Before he got injured he was showing that he can be a great center in the league and he's only 20 years old. If Bynum becomes a center who can actually compete with Oden then it's a done deal and the L*kers are our biggest rival for them coming years. I see epic clashes of the titans coming.

The Hornets potential to become our biggest rival hinges on their ability to keep Paul and keep talent around him. If Paul does walk away from the Hornets to join the Blazers then the argument is over, but if he stays with the Hornets then we are in for some nail biting games during the regular season and in the playoffs. There is also the extra little motivation for Paul when you consider that the Blazers past on a chance to draft him.

The eastern conference is tough; we only play them twice a year and only see them in the playoffs in the championship round so it's harder to develop a good rivalry. Still, a good rival in the other conference makes for much better Finials. I think Orlando, Cleveland and Atlanta could become that eastern rival for the Blazers. Cleveland will be good for as many years as LeBron is playing. Orlando has a titan of it's own in Howard and an old Nate player in Lewis. Atlanta has perhaps the biggest collection of talented young players outside of Portland and Horford and Oden have already met each other once in a championship game. Granted, having and eastern rival is dependant on there being a dominant team in the east that can consistently make it to the finials to play the Blazers, so it's a lot harder to predict.

My prediction, the L*kers and the Jazz will be our biggest conference rivals until the Jazz are replaced a few years down the line by the (hopefully) Seattle Supersonics. From the east, I really hope it turns out to be Orlando because a finials match-up of Oden and Howard would be an instant classic.