Bradford DoolittleofBasketball Prospectus, writing forESPN Insider表明,波特兰开拓者将be one of several "good fits" for Steve Nash this offseason (placing Portland in the same category as the L*kers, Nets, Magic, and Raptors). --------------------------------- "The Blazers have a chance to be major players in the offseason, with an exceptional core player in LaMarcus Aldridge, a solid running mate in restricted free agent Nicolas Batum and plenty of financial flexibility. What the Blazers don't have is a permanent general manager or much certainty about who they could surround a core of Aldridge, Batum and Nash with. Portland could possibly win Nash over on dollars and cultural fit. Rip City is definitely Nash's kind of town." --------------------------------- Doolittle pegs the Mavericks and Knicks as "better fits" for Nash's services, with the Heat seen as the "best fit" for the aging yet still dominant point guard.

Two weeks back, a report named Atlanta Hawks GM Rick Sund as a possible candidate for the Portland Trail Blazers' open GM position. A few days later, a report from theAtlanta Journal-Constitution poured cold wateron the idea. On Tuesday,Chris HaynesofCSNNW.com reportsthat the Blazers requested permission to talk to Sund, who reportedly remains under contract until June 30, and were denied. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Such a black eye on a great series,and win. I was thinking Thunder Alley looked like a really cool idea. The world just keeps getting scarier.

Basically, this means that Mike Woodson will not be a candidate for the Blazer's open head coach position, and (more importantly) Portland and other markets looking for a new head coach (Orlando and Charlotte, as of right now) will not have competition from the bright lights of New York.

Casey HoldahlofBlazers.com reportsa dispatch from Portland Trail Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanan, who led a team of Blazers executives on a scouting trip to the New Jersey combine. The group saw 48 players generally regarded as second round or undrafted prospects. --------------------------------- "I don't think there's maybe a ton of all-star caliber talent in this draft, but I think it's deep with a lot of guys who are good enough to be in a rotation, including several guys who were at this (New Jersey) workout," said Buchanan. "Seeing guys play 5-on-5 is a great evaluation tool. You get to see how guys have improved since the season ended and you last saw him, both from a skill standpoint and a physical standpoint, conditioning standpoint." "I think for us, it's always about identifying the players we would like to add if we have the opportunity to add them," said Buchanan. "If they're there with our picks in the second round, then we'll pull the trigger on them. But we're not going to draft a guy just because we have to draft a guy either. We've got to feel like the guy is capable of helping us, whether immediately or down the road, and we feel like at pick 40 and 41 there's a chance there's a couple guys who make it that far down who we like who we won't be afraid to pull the trigger on, regardless of what we do with our lottery pick." --------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Sam AmickofSI.com writesthat the Orlando Magic'sdecision to firecoach Stan Van Gundy and to part ways with GM Otis Smith could influence the Portland Trail Blazers as they continue to search for a new GM and coach. -------------------------------------- The Magic's situation will likely have a ripple effect on the rest of the league if they move quickly. Among the possible ripples: Portland, which has interviewed Bower and Morway, now has incentive to expedite its general manager search and move on to its coaching search too --------------------------------------As noted on Monday, many of the early candidates for the Magic's GM job have Portland ties. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

"One more"

"Sorry if we offended you Seattle." -------------------------------------------- "After receiving death threats we have decided to take the shirt down offline," the company stated after dropping the shirt from its website.Death threats? Pretty stupid, some dudes from Seattle. This t-shirt? Pretty awful, some dudes from Oklahoma City." -via BDL

看起来棒极了,亚当Morrison ..... "This life-affirming photo of Morrison — the NCAA's co-Player of the Year during his junior season at Gonzaga who was drafted No. 3 overall by Michael Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats in 2006 and soon plummeted to the depths of bustdom thanks to an inability to create his own shot against NBA defenders, a severe left knee injury and the fact that he was chosen ahead of Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, Rajon Rondo and Paul Millsap (among others) — was taken Monday morning by SNY.tv's Adam Zagoria." -Via Ball Don't Lie

Here's a YouTube tribute video to former Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy set to the tune of the Puff Daddy classic "I'll Be Missing You."视频通过YouTube userLoBudProductions. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter