OregonSportsNews.com Had A Roundtable Discussion On The Blazers, And I Was There

I've been contributing to Oregon Sports News for a few weeks now and have really enjoyed doing so.  Last week, one of my fellow writers had the idea to do a "roundtable discussion" post about the Blazers and all the hot topics surrounding the team right now.  Things like, why they suck so bad, why they aren't playing very good right now, and last, but not least, why the suck so bad. 

That article was posted today and you can find it here.  There were 5 questions posed to those who took part.  Here are my answers to those questions.

Question 1:  Who should the Trail Blazers ship out before the March 15 trade deadline?

Answer:  When I first think of this question the first two players that come to mind are Nic Batum and Raymond Felton.  But if teams started asking for Gerald Wallace instead of Batum, I wouldn’t even think twice about it.  This team needs a change, and if you ask me, it’s pick a player, any player.  But if you’re talking about who they should be shopping, I’d say Batum and Felton.

Question 2:  Who should the Trail Blazers target before the March 15 trade deadline?

Answer:  The player that should be on the very top of the Blazers target list is Steve Nash.  I’ve written about this a couple of times in the past 6 weeks.  Sure, he’s 38 years old and won’t be your “point guard of the future”, but he is surely a better option than anything the Blazers have going at PG right now.  There’s a small chance he’d re-sign with the Blazers, but who cares if he doesn’t.  With this lockout shortened season, I would love to see the Blazers acquire Nash, and see how far they can get in the playoffs.

Question 3:  Who on the Trail Blazers' roster is untouchable?

Answer:  Not a single player on this current roster is untouchable, except LaMarcus Aldridge.  This team should be past the point of getting emotionally attached to any one player, seeing as they got screwed with what has happened to Roy and Oden.  My thought is that you have to do whatever you can to win.  And if it means shipping out guys that are “fan favorites” or that the fans “like”, I’m all for it.

Question 4:  Should the Trail Blazers follow recent trends and trade away depth for a superstar to play alongside LaMarcus Aldridge?

Answer:  Piggybacking a little bit off the previous question, I would say trade anyone you can to get a legit star to play alongside Aldridge.  But at the same time, you still have to be smart about it.  You can’t give away too much depth for a star player, because even two star players with no depth isn’t a great way of building a team.

Question 5:  Would the Trail Blazers be better fit to search for a long-term solution before the March 15 trade deadline, or via free agency with the relief of the team's expiring contracts?

Answer:  Portland is never going to attract top tier free agents, so I wouldn’t really spend very much time going down that road.  To get any viable sidekick for Aldridge, it will have to come via trade.  Of course, if they can’t get anything back with a trade, it helps to know that the team isn’t tied to anyone but Matthews and Aldridge for the long term.  So if they decide to wait it out (they probably will, knowing this team), at least they’ll have the money to attempt to go after some free agents.