According to ESPN Lebron James has said, 

"When I decide to make that decision, it's going to basically put me in a position where I feel I can win multiple championships," James said. "If it's staying here, I'll be here, and if it's moving elsewhere, then I'll have to look at all my options."

I don't know about ya'll but my ears picked up when I read that. We all know that the Blazers will have their cap room this summer, not in 2010 when James becomes a UFA, so the Blazers chances at landing James are pretty remote right? Well maybe...

Convental wisdom says that if Cleveland doesn't have a very good season this year, (which they are off to a good start, and James has said he thinks this is the best team he has been on since he was drafted) then James might start making some more noise about his future with the club. As Dave pointed out last week, there is little to no chance that James leaves as a UFA, as Cleveland would make a trade before that could happen unless he just blindsides them after it is too late to make a trade.  Suddenly Porland not having Cap room in 2010 is not looking like such a big deal when trying to land James, as a trade with Portland is very possible this summer. Now alot would have to happen to make that even slightly possible, not the least of which is Cleveland struggling, which they are not, and James getting the overwhelming feeling that "multiple championships" are not in his future if he stays with the Cavs. You also have to believe that James really does want rings over sponors, media coverage, global marketing, and international superstardom, because if he values those more, he will end up in New York or LA, not PDX. However the teams in New York or New Jersey are a wreck, with hardly any one to put around James at the moment, so if he does want to win rings, and win them soon and often he will have to consider a Portland team on the rise.

So, lets say everything goes right, Cleveland goes into the tank because James's teammates can't hit a shot, he grows restless, and decides he is not staying in Cleveland after he becomes a UFA. Cleveland then looks to move him for something in return, so they at least get something, for the best player in the game.  We must also assume that James has decided he wants multiple shots at those championships, and that Portland will provide those opportunities.  What kinda of a package could Portland put together for James this summer to satisfy the Cavs? What would you as a Blazer fan be willing to give up for James?

I am sure their first asking price would be steep, maybe Oden and Roy for James? I think the Blazers wouldn't pull that trigger, as it is too much to give up even for James. I also believe for James to see Portland as a legit title contender Oden and Roy would have to be on the team. How about a counter offer from Portland, Outlaw, Blake, and LMA for James, plus a couple of 1st rounders. My guess is Cleveland would be interested but would want the pot sweetened a little to pull the trigger. Lucky for Portland they have lots of young exciting talent, so what if Cleveland countered that proposal with James and Ben Wallace, (a bad contract but it is up in 2010) for LMA, Outlaw, Rudy and Sergio?  That would give Cleveland two possible All-Stars, plus 2 very good players in return for one superstar and a expiring contract. It is not a fair trade for the Cavs, but when you have to trade a superstar you will never recieve fair value.  All of this is possible only during the summer, as that is when Portland's Cap space will make it possible, once the 2009/2010 season starts, the window for getting James in PDX will be closed.

So would you do it if you were KP? I hate to give up Rudy, Outlaw and LMA, all 3 are good players, and both Rudy and LMA could be all-stars very soon. I would be very happy watching them for the next 10 years play as Blazers, but if all of these domino's above fell into place, I would have to pull the trigger. A lineup of Blake, Roy, James, Frye, and Oden would be pretty wicked enough to overcome the gutting of the bench. Bayless, Joel and Webster are still quality players, and that would make one quality 8 man rotation.

***Poll instructions, this poll is based on the assumtions in this post, it is not based on, "do you think this is a fair trade" as we all know it is not. Please vote accordingly***

During last nights game, we heard Mike and Mike talk about Bod Delany's personal grudge against Joel Pryzbilla. True or not, it did seem to a Blazer fan that Joel was whistled for 2 very very light fouls while guarding Howard, so it seemed like there might have been some truth to it. Ofcourse if you ask anyone employeed or retired from the NBA they will say there is none, the refs will deny it, and the commish will as well. But can the refs really just make that many "bad" calls?

Most of us can remember Buck Williams having a hard time staying out of foul trouble when a certin ref was calling the game, and Rasheed has always had issues with Steve Javy.  For non-Blazers there was the Tim Duncan laughing on the bench T a couple of seasons ago.

So do ref's personal vindetta's play as big of a role as we fans believe?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3679931

Espn is reporting that Denver is trading AI to Detroit for Billups and Mcdyess.

"The Pistons have reached an agreement in principle with the Denver Nuggets to acquire guard Allen Iverson in exchange for Detroit mainstays Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess, club sources told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Young center Cheikh Samb, selected by the Los Angeles Lakers for the Pistons with the 51st overall pick in the 2006 draft, will also be going to Denver in the deal, reports ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher.

The trade has not been finalized, but sources close to the process told ESPN.com that a trade call with the league office is forthcoming to make the deal official later Monday. "

Interesting...this makes Denver better? Or worse?

To me if this trade goes down, it just made us making the playoffs that much harder. Billups and Carmello is a great core duo to start out with, and if Nene can get back to where he was before his cancer? This team can really put a dent into Portland's playoff hopes. I hope this deal doesn't go down, but I hope Denver can find a taker for AI, or at least keep him in limbo till the trade deadline.

Now that the preseason is over, and Dave has done his final Preview of the team, it is time for us all to put down our Final, (meaning you can't change them anymore!) season predictions for the team. As Dave's said in his post, these are meaningless, however I feel they are very fun to try and get right! So first here is some information, (stats!) to help everyone decide on their predictions.

Preseason stat link: http://www.nba.com/blazers/stats/

Using these stats, as well as last season stats for a minutes baseline, I have run the numbers to show what each players season would look like if he simply played like he did in the preseason. (Yes I know this is not perfectly reliable, but it is just meant as some info to help everyone with their predictions, don't take it as the bible).

Stat:     Min      PTS     AST     REB     STL     BLK    TO       FG%    3PT% FT%

Blake   29.9     10.8     5.2       1.5       2.2       0          .7         48        36        67

ROY    37.7     22.2     5.0       2.7       2.7       0          2.0       60        64        56

Batum  15.0     5.3       1.1       2.3       .6         1.0       .7         43        36        60

LMA    34.9     19.1     2.3       7.8       1.8       .8         1.0       47        0          71

Oden    30.0     14.6     1.7       9.9       .6         1.1       3.2       58        0          66

Rudy    27.2     11.1     3.7       3.1       2.4       0          3.1       46        35        100

Travis   21        8.3       .7         3.0       1.0       .9         .5         37        36        76

Frye     15        6.2       .6         3.6       0.0       .4         0          44        100      63

Joel      18        5.1       0          6.2       0.0       1.1       1.1       67        0          57

Sergio  20        5.1       5.7       1.7       1.3       0.0       2.1       38        37        50

*Web   22.6     13.0     .9         6.9       1.7       .9         .9         63        25        100

*Webster only played in 1 game so his numbers are very debateable.

Some minutes projections were based soley on what I thought a player would play, while others were just takin off of what they did last year, (like Roy's 37.7)

I think these are a possible outcome, however  few things I will change for my prediction.

This is the Fan post for everyone who went to the Fanfest tonight to share their thoughts, experiences,etc...

First, I arrived at about 4:30pm, the doors didn't open until 5pm, and that 1/2 hour was very odd, I was cramed into a small hallway with about 400 other people waiting for the door to open, staff was trying to wade through the crowd to get in to work, and it is just generally unorganized.

Once the doors opened, I got inside and found a good seat down low in the 100 level. Mike Barrett did the interviews, and they all warmed up for the scrimage. Bayless and Outlaw put on a dunk contest during warmups, with Bayless winning in my opinion, as Outlaw missed too many of his dunks.

The teams I can remember as following:

Black team

Roy, Oden, LMA, Sergio, Webster

White Team

Bayless, Rudy, Joel, Outlaw, Ike.

In the first 20 min half, the show belonged to Rudy, he drained at least three 3 pointers, and prolly had somewhere around 11 points and 3 beautiful assists. He would have had more too, but a few of his passes were not anticipated by the reciever who in return was not ready to shoot.

Outlaw shot the ball almost everytime he touched it, I hope that is not going to happen in the season. He shot it well though, and had somewhere around 10-12 points in the 1st 20 mins.

Oden was ok, he didn't stand out to me though, except for his huge size compared to everyone else. He is just so much bigger than Joel, LMA, Hill, etc... He had a few dunks when he got it down low, but the white team seemed to double him quickly, which led to at least one great pass to LMA for a dunk. One thing he did stand out in, is that he got his hands on just about every rebound he was in for, he didn't always get the rebound, but he touches the ball, sometimes deflecting it to a teammate, sometimes to himself, and sometimes to the other team, but I love the effort he puts into it. By the end of the game I think he had around 7 to 9 points.

Roy was Roy, he is ready for the season, and LMA is hitting everything he launches, except the one three from the corner he took. Web got lost again to me, he really just didn't stand out at all which is disappointing.

All in all it was very very fun to go, we set a new attendance record this year with over 11,000 people there, there were even people up in the 300 level to watch!

So, who else went, and what did you think?