This being Sunday, we can all use a little diversion to amuse and relax us in the dog days leading up to the NBA draft on Thursday, when Kevin Pritchard will shock and awe the basketball world again. Enjoy!

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Our poor Blazers have been getting reamed for decades now for picking Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan. In other words, drafting for need instead of taking the best player available (BPA). I think most of the time a GM must draft for need, not take the BPA.

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Here on Blazers Edge, we're all hoops prose pros when it comes to talking the talk.
How many of us also walk the walk? 

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It seems every GM holding an NBA lotto pick is talking about dealing it. Apparently, there isn't a lot of love for this year's batch of fine young cannibals available for needy teams. Even Pat Riley and John Paxson are saying they'll listen to offers.

What's going on here? Are the GMs thinking they need veterans instead of rookies? Are the top picks really not as good as they've been hyped? (Well, that one is a no-brainer anyway.)  Or have team owners over-extended themselves in real estate and autos and need to trim costs by not adding any first-round picks to their rosters?

Whatever the reason, there is opportunity amid the chaos for the Blazers.  I'm proposing KP trade for the #1 pick and draft Derrick Rose, for the following reasons:

• If so many lottery GMs are trying to deal their picks, the value of those picks on the market is low. That means we won't have to give up nearly as much to get the #1 pick as we would if demand were high for high picks this year.
• We have too many players under contract for next season and need to trim the roster.
• We have good, young, inexpensive players that other teams want.
• Our team is already young, so adding another young talent like Rose will only delay the opening of our championship window a little more while he matures. If he's as good as projected, he'll be worth the wait. Our window isn't projected to open for a couple more years anyway.
• Steve Blake runs the team well, so Rose can take time to learn how to play PG before eventually taking over the starting job.

The only caveat is what it will take to pry the #1 pick from Chicago. We don't want to give up Oden, Roy, or Aldridge, and it's unlikely KP would trade Rudy if he agrees to sign with us. That makes things tough, but most of us are probably fine with that. I'm willing to deal anyone else to get Rose: Przybilla, Outlaw, Webster, Blake, Frye, and yes, even Von Wafer.

Within those parameters, is there any way to do this deal?

Please note: I'm not asking whether we should do this deal. I just want to know whether it could be done without including our Big Four.

Gentlemen, start your ESPN trade machines!

This from True Hoop:

 Alan Hahn of Newsday: "There was no frozen envelope, no conspiracy. But now, after the Knicks wound up with the sixth pick from the NBA draft lottery Tuesday night, there are many options for Donnie Walsh in what he calls the 'second stage' of the Knicks' rebuilding process. 'Now,' Walsh said, 'our work starts.' It starts with shopping the pick with the intention of packaging it with one of those hefty contracts on the team's bloated payroll in an effort to get some desperately needed salary-cap relief, which, for Walsh, is always Job 1. 'I think we'll look at everything,' Walsh said."

Trade our #13 pick to New York for their #6 and Eddy Curry. Paul Allen buys him out and the Blazers get Westbrook.

Last year at this time, I played ESPN's draft calculator a lot to see whether the Blazers, picking seventh, had a shot at the #1 or #2 pick. I was pleasantly surprised to see how often it came up, so while I was shocked, stunned, and stupefied when we won the #1 pick, I wasn't terribly surprised.

This year, we have the #13 pick. Could lightning strike twice? I ran ESPN's draft calculator 50 times. It came up the #13 pick 49 times. One time out of 50, it came up as... the 14th pick. You can try it yourself at:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/lottery2008/mockdraft

Looks like KP better plan on having the #13 pick this year. If we won the lottery again, I think both Ralph Nader and I would be calling for a federal investigation.

I would like to see the Blazers draft Russell Westbrook, but he may not last to #13. The player ESPN seems to think we want at that pick is Danilo Gallinari.

Who?

The thumbnail report ESPN provides on Gallinari says that he "reminds scouts of Toni Kukoc because of his fantastic basketball IQ. He has point forward skills, can score from just about anywhere, and has excellent leadership qualities. Despite his rather ordinary athleticism and a so-so 3-point shot, he's easily the best international prospect in the draft."

That's not a very encouraging review, but the guy can't be too awful, because NBAdraft.net has him going at #9 to Chicago and DraftExpress.com has him going #6 to the Clippers.

I'll express in Italian my opinion of Gallinari: NOOOOOOO!

If we have to start adding players who are slow-footed and can't dunk, they'd better at least be able to shoot the three. And who ever heard of a Euro who doesn't like to shoot the three? We already have players at small forward (and point guard) who have weaknesses. Why add another?

Still, ESPN at least seems to think Gallinari is going to be the best player available for us at #13.

I have a Blazers Edge t-shirt. The back reads: "2007-2008: Who steps up? 2008-2009: Which free agent? 2009-2010: What's your ring size?!" We Blazer fans seem to think that's pretty accurate. If so, why are so many posters so desperate to upgrade at PG and SF?

If Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez turn out to be the outstanding players we think they will be, that means we'll have a Big Four, not just a Big Three. In that case, how much better do we have to get at PG and SF? Aren't a Big Four and several role players all we need to return the Larry O'Brien trophy to its rightful place in Portland?

The Blazer team that we hope will win a title or ten hasn't played one minute together yet because GO and Rudy haven't played.  We haven't seen what that team can do, and that team will need a couple of seasons together to grow into their games and learn how to play with each other.

Everyone talks about the wheeling and dealing Kevin Pritchard is going to do this summer, but he might surprise us by making no significant changes at all, preferring simply to add Greg and Rudy and give the team a year to grow and learn to play together and see what happens. After all, it's not like there are a plethora of SFs and PGs out there KP could get who would be an upgrade over our current SFs and PGs.

My view is that I'm fine with adding GO and Rudy to who we have on the team and letting the players grow together in 2008-2009. What's yours?