Hello all at Blazer's Edge. I'd like to start off by saying that the Trailblazers have been a confusing team for me through the years. At one point I hated them more than any other team. The Duckworth, Drexler era. Then I just felt sorry for the fans during the Jailblazers period. Recently, I have enjoyed the teams put forth with Aldridge, Roy, Batum, Matthews, etc. They are/were stand up guys with a lot of talent. I still believe that if Roy were healthy, he would be one of the most dominate players in this league, right up there with Lebron (I just threw up), and Durant.

Over at Bright Side of the Sun, a fellow Edger, 420Phenom, inquired in a fanpost what the asking price for Gortat would be. Many suggestions were put forth with one I was curious about how most of you here would feel about such a trade. Now keep in mind that I am aware that this trade has pretty much 0% chance of happening so please don't bash me by saying that it can't happen for reasons of cap space, free agency period, S&T limitations, etc. I am aware of those. It's more of if it could happen, would you? Nash recently said that he would be open to a sign and trade, so over at BSotS we have been looking at who a S&T partner could be. Then I saw 420Phenom's post, so now I'm here. Here we go.

Ok, so the trade would be Nash, Gortat, and Telfair for Batum, the 6th, the 11th and a future 1st rounder. This is under the assumption that Nash would be signing a 3 year deal at around $10mil a year (Thats about the consensus of what he is asking for), as well as Batum signing a 4 year/$36mil or something simillar. I think this deal works actually for both teams. Reason for the Suns is that it starts the rebuilding officially for us, which we have been slowing sliding into that mode for the past 2 years.

The reason Portland does it is obvious I would think. You get a 2-time MVP point guard that hasn't shown any signs of decline, still being a top 5 guard in the league, and a top 5 center. By also including Telfair (I would demand it if I was in the Portland FO) you get a cheap backup for Nash. I don't know much about Nolan Smith or how you guys feel about him, but Telly had a tremendous 2nd half of the season for us and was a great backup pg. Most people are glad he'll be back next year because of his effectiveness, tenacity, and price. I don't think that the Blazers, with a special talent like LaMarcus Aldridge in his prime as well as a very capable Wesley Matthews, should be in rebuild mode. With this trade, you become contenders, as well as you would still be under the cap at $52mil with 12 players locked up (assuming you re-sign Hickson at around 4mil a yr). With the extra cap space you could go after another nice piece or two. Dare I suggest that if the FO and Gerald Wallace are willing to reunite at the right price, that would make one HELL of a lineup. If not I would almost guarantee that Grant Hill would follow Nash to Portland, and he would come cheaper than Wallace. Heck you could get both. Lineup:

PG: Nash, Telfair, Smith

SG: Matthews, Williams

C: Gortat, Przybilla, Thomas

PF: Aldridge, Hickson

SF; Wallace, Hill, Babbitt, S.Williams

Personally, if the Suns could put that team on the court, I would be one happy dude. I feel that this roster would be a serious contender for the next 2-3 years. Anyways, those are my thoughts. Again I do realize that this trade couldn't happen legally, and that it WON'T happen, I'm just curious on your guy's thoughts. Thanks for your time, and best of luck to you guys.