Assuming that Brandon Roy plays about as well, and often as he has so far (19ppg 5rpg 5 apg) and LaMarcus gets to, or close to the heralded 20ppg and 10rpg, these two will combine to sign contracts that are at least somewhere in the $18-22 million in 2010-11.  The next year, Oden will need to sign a contract, which may be larger than those two, seperatley.  These are the “Big Three” and combined that will make around $35 million I imagine.  Possibly they could be closer to $40 million.  That is a large portion of money for three players, but they also can possibly lead us to the coveted championship(s).   We have many, what most of us Blazer fans refer to as, role players.  Martell, Travis especially will likely garner more than the mid-level ($6-8 million each).  Blake will stay around the same $4-6 he is now.  That is another $18-20 million.  So far, with six players we have about $54 million against the cap.  Add in Bayless, Rudy and Batum ($4.7M combined)  as guaranteed salaries amd we are closer to 60M in 2011-12.  The salary cap will most likely be $62-65M based on the last three years of growth.  That is 9 players, barely under the salary cap.

Now, we don’t have to sign all these guys,  most likely it will be one or the other with Martell and Travis, or Blake may lose playing time and not wish to come back.  We may need front court depth and have to have Channing or Diogu.  There are numerous scenarios, but the point is that all of these players are taking cap space and are there really any better options for the same amount of cash? The Big Three should be a given, and placing somewhat questionable talent around them shouldn’t be a big deal, but why not save our cap room and work with what we have? 

There was a team that had 2 great players with a slew of pretty good role players, that team was the 99-00 L**ers

O’Neal/Oden-Big, strong guys that command the double team and can pass out of it.

Bryant/Roy-I actually think that Roy is better than K*be was in 2000 and can bring more to the game.

AC Green. Horry, Grant/Aldridge-Aldridge is already better than all three of these guys were in ’00,’01 and ’02, so this would be a great advantage.

Derek Fisher, Ron Harper/Blake- Is Steve not as good as these two were during the Championship years?  Fisher and Blake are very similar is style of play, and Harper had leadership but he couldn’t hit a three or stay in front of anyone. This also shows you that a great true point guard isn’t needed.

Glen Rice, Devon George/Martell is a better defensive player than Rice was and a better offensive player than George

Bench:

Rick Fox, Brian Shaw, Robert Horry, Mad Dog/Travis, Rudy, Bayless, Frye-Not even close, I’d take any two guys from our list and have them play all four of their guys.

The L**ers built around two dominant players, the Blazers will have at least three “great” players and I can see Oden and LMA becoming dominant in the future.  The Blazers and its fans should only be concerned with retaining our best talent and using the resources that we have so if something doesn’t turn out the best, we have the ability to change it without a complete rebuilding (Which means no Luxury tax).