Portland Trail Blazers president Larry Miller, Acting GM Chad Buchanan and Coach Nate McMillan will be conducting a press conference at the Rose Garden on Monday afternoon, scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM. Follow along on Twitter for real-time updates of anything substantive.
Speculate before, react during and meditate afterwards in the comments.
Update: Here are some quick-hitting highlights...
- Blazers said they met with Brandon Roy face-to-face today and that he said all the right things.
- Roy says he feels great and that he's willing to do whatever he can to help the team.
- Blazers say as of right now they have no plans to use the Amnesty Clause on anyone, including Roy.
- Chad Buchanan told me after the press conference...
"There would have to be a drastic change in where we are at right now, or where Brandon feels he's at, to have something be altered as to where we stand today."
- Another Buchanan quote on whether he took it personally when he read reports that the Blazers had already decided to amnesty Roy...
"For us, it is [personal], because Brandon has meant so much to our organization. We know the quality of person he is, for us to not be able to defend where we are at, anybody is going to be sensitive. If Brandon hears that, obviously that's tough for him to hear. And we addressed that with him today."For us, we were kind of limited on what we could say publicly. We couldn't reach out to Brandon. We couldn't reach out to his agent until last week. That was the very first phone call I made to Greg Lawrence, [I] just expressed how we feel about Brandon and what he's meant to our organization and that no decision has been made on using an amnesty on anybody. So it was disappointing that you couldn't reach out and let Brandon know where you're at with things."
- Nate McMillan says he is "leaning towards" using Brandon Roy at the starting two rather than using Nicolas Batum in that role.
- Roy rested during the offseason, tested his knee, he told the Blazers it felt "very strong" and he was "very encouraged."
- Larry Miller interjected to say that Roy's confidence level is "very high" and "that's a good thing."
- Miller said the plan is for Roy to be on the roster for day one of training camp and that "hopefully" Roy is on the regular season roster as well.
- Buchanan said Greg Oden weighs "in the mid-280s."
- There is currently no timetable on a return to the court for Oden and Buchanan said it is "highly unlikely" that he is cleared to practice during his medical evaluation on Thursday.
- Don't expect anything imminent on the Nicolas Batum contract extension. Buchanan said the two sides are in very early stages and have time to work it out after training camp, etc.
- Nate McMillan admitted his bench is going to be "very young" but said, in general, he likes the roster.
- Buchanan tells me the five position is the target position in free agency rather than the four and that Joel Przybilla, who he considers a close friend, is on the target list along with a few others. If Roy stays, there could be major benefit to getting someone at the veteran's minimum rather than the Mini-Mid-Level Exception given luxury tax costs.
- Buchanan says the Blazers might prefer to enter the season with 14 players as opposed to a full 15-man roster for flexibility purposes and also to save the salary (plus luxury tax, assuming Roy isn't waived).
- Much more coming later tonight.
This post will update with a synopsis once the press conference is complete.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter