The other day BlazersOrBust posted the link to Bill Simmons Trade Machine, suggesting a deal to trade Aldridge and Rudy.

The responses and comments were plentiful and entertaining, mostly questioning Simmons sanity.
Many of us barraged Simmons with links to the blog and emails.

Well enough of us got to him, landing us a heartfelt response and the title of "Most Irrationally devoted Fans in the NBA."

Here's his rant:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/links/080221

What do you think? Did Simmons justify his rationale? Or do we still think he's nuts?

I personally think Aldridge should be considered mostly untouchable. His versatility and athleticism is worthy of developing rather than using as trade bait. Yes, he may be a 20 and 8 guy but that doesn't make him Charles Smith. His shot blocking ability combined with Oden will be nasty and raw in the coming years. I can't trade Aldridge before seeing those two together. Furthermore, his sharp shooting will spread the floor with Oden in there.

As for Rudy, with all of the upside we keep hearing about, and murmurs of "The Best Player in Europe" I ask, again, why would we dump that potential for Mike Miller and more unproven potential in Conley Jr? Especially when we have time on our hands! Remember that Portland, we have the third youngest NBA team EVER! We have time to let these guys play and grow, and enjoy watching it. No need to jump ship.

We have the feeling back of winning, let's enjoy that and build on it.