So long Steve Blake, We wish you luck... well not that much luck

As heard first on the Bald Faced Truth on 95.5 The Game here in Portland, Debbie Blake, Steve Blake's sister, confirms that Blakey is indeed signing a 4 year deal worth $16 million with the hated L*kers. I'm glad Steve found a new home, but oh how much i would give if it wasn't with the L*kers. I know we traded him so we can't be too mad about it, in fact we got a key piece in Marcus Camby because of that trade. Still, I was holding out hope that we would sign Blake back to be our back up PG this year. All Bias aside, I think Blakey will be a good fit for the L*kers, he'll provide a steadying hand on offense and a safety valve for K*be. We all know Blake can make it rain from deep. I'm gonna miss him and I'm happy for him and wish him the best of luck. Until he enters the RG in those filthy colors, then he's the enemy. He will always be part of this Blazers family tho, at least in this maniacs opinion,

Free agency and.. GASP! CP3??!!?

Yes sir its that time of year where teams try to lure prospective players away from their current situations so that they will play for them. In other words; free agency. teams are now allowed to talk to free agents and try to swoon them. Please note that no one can officially sign until July 8th, but it doesn't hurt to get a head start. This is no ordinary draft class however, no no no. Big time names like Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and of course the anointed one, LeBron James, are on all on the table. where will they go? who knows. The Blazers probably don't have a significant chance of landing one of those players. The free agents the Blazers are looking at include the likes of Wesley Mathews, Kyle Korver, and Anthony Morrow. All of these players are fairly legit but there is a question on whether the Blazers can offer them enough to lure them from their respective teams. All these players seem to shooting guards or small forwards, the Blazers could really use a point, i wonder who could be had... Wait, what? the Blazers are taking aim at Chris FREAKING Paul??? one of, if not THE best point guards in the game? i'm impressed, the Blazers are taking a run at a superstar and regardless of whther they get him or not, this tells me they want to win and they want to do it now. Last week during the draft the Hornets and Blazers were discussing a deal that would have sent Joel Przybilla, Andre Miller, Nicolas Batum, Jerryd Bayless and the 22nd pick for CP3. Apparently this deal was very close to going down and the Blazers look like they are still pushing hard to land Paul, I would freak out. Roy and Paul in the same back court? legendary. I would hate to loose these players, especially Nic and Bayless but fora once in a lifetime point guard? sorry guys. i have my doubts this will happen but I'm also hopeful and you should be too because this rumor is hanging around. I love free agency! check back for updates as they happen!

P.S. Danny Ferry seems to be the front runner in the GM search, he had an interview and is apparently mulling it over. He wouldn't be a bad pick up, he's a guy cut from the same cloth as KP, both went through the San Antonio front office before getting their own teams, I'll keep you posted on this as well. Go Blazers!

Doc

Kevin Pritchard and the draft

I'm gonna start out with something that bugs me quite a bit; the firing of Kevin Pritchard. First and foremost I'm completely against the firing. KP, although not perfect ( no GM is), has done a good job. When he took over our fan base was reeling from all the off the court issues that had been occurring, the on court product was atrocious, and we were sitting on some massively overpaid contracted players. KP came in, and rid us of all of the bad character guys as the first step. Go and get good quality players who were just as importantly good people too. Then he reconnected with the fan base, brought the maniacs back to the Garden. then, through the draft, he made our team into a legit player in the Western Conference. under his leadership the Blazers have show continued improvement every year (except for last year but we were so injured last year that we probably shouldn't have eve made the playoffs). So why was he fired? we don't really know. there are theories and whispers about him taking too much credit in the media and throwing Paul Allen under the bus, and about him not being trustworthy. I don't buy into that much, a lot of the credit he got for what he did was from media and fans, he wasn't the one who came up with 'pritch-slap'. Nor did I think he really threw Paul Allen under the bus with what he said. regardless of what happened, Paul Allen can do whatever he wants, it's his team, but show some class. Kevin Pritchard had his legs cut off at the knee and was dangled out in the wind to dry for weeks. I wish him luck wherever he lands and thank him for all he did for this team, he will always be a Blazer in my mind.

KP was fired, right before the draft, allegedly he was fired before that but whatever, he was fired the day of the draft but had to work the draft before he was officially relieved of his duties. Hopefully KP left us one more gift before he left us. One unusual fact, the three players we drafted were all lefties. I don't know if Ive ever heard of that happening before, just a fun fact. the blazers traded Martel Webster to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Ryan Gomes and the 16th pick. Ryan Gomes was cut which saved us money and lowered us below the luxury tax so we now have more money for free agents. with the 16th pick the Blazers received Luke Babbitt, a small forward from Nevada. the kid can fill it up. he's a shooter and a damn good one, something this team needs. At the 22nd pick the Blazers selected Elliot Williams, a 6'4'' combo guard from Memphis. I've heard this kid has crazy upside and is one hell of an athlete. with the 34th pick the Blazers drafted Armon Johnson, another combo type guard from Nevada. He's supposed to be crazy athletic so we'll see how he works out. Remember; Johnson was taken in the second round so we do not have to sign him. Babbitt and Johnson will play in the upcoming summer league but Williams is nursing a knee injury, so for precautionary reasons he will sit out. So how will these rookies turn out? your guess is as good as mine, they are all players with upside, but all also have the potential to be busts. the Summer league is coming up in a little over a week so we'll get a good look at them then, and i will be providing posts with my thoughts on the players and evaluations on how they did. check back for more updates because this promises to be a busy summer! Rip City Baby!