Allen is more than an owner. Money like his makes stuff happen!

Henry AbbottofTrueHoop.com interviewsPortland Trail Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanan onESPN's NBA Todaypodcast. Here's Buchanan on his job status. ------------------------------------ "For me, it doesn't even venture into my thinking everyday. This is a very important time for us from a personnel and decision standpoint moving forward. I'm just trying to keep my eyes on that ball. If you start thinking about anything from a selfish standpoint, that's when bad decisions get made and your intentions and your heart are in the wrong place. [President] Larry [Miller] has been oustanding to me. He's been very upfront and honest with me from Day One. He's been very supportive of all the recommendations we've made from a decision standpoint. "At the end of this season, they'll take a look and see what candidates are out there. If I'm a candidate, great. If I'm not, I just want to hopefully remain with the organization and continue to support it and help it. his is my eighth year with the team. I have a lot of sweat and hours invested in this team. I want to see us make a deep playoff run eventually and compete for a championship.That's the most important thing to me. The title and role is not as important as being a part of the Portland Trail Blazers." ------------------------------------ Buchanan also said: "I would be disappointed if within the next four years if we're not a Western Conference Finals caliber team. I can't tell you what year we're going to get there, but I would be disappointed if in the next four years we're not competing to get there." -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers guard Jamal Crawford speaks candidly inan extended question and answerwithBrendan BowersofSlam Magazine. Crawford talks about the trade rumors prior to the deadline and a report that hehelped lead a "mutiny"与其他后卫费尔顿。------------------------------------------ I did think I was going to be traded the whole time leading up to the trade deadline, and then I come to find out that Gerald gets traded. So I’m like, OK, there are three hours left in the deadline, they’re going to make some more moves. Then Marcus gets traded. Then I get a call from Chad Buchanan (Blazers Interim GM), saying we didn’t want to trade you, that the opt-out was the thing that had us nervous, because they didn’t know if I did leave, would they get something in return, but we talked about it and worked it out. And then 30 minutes later, I hear Nate McMillan’s fired. And then I’m like wow, this is crazy. Greg Oden’s released, Chris Johnson’s waived, and all of this was in the same day. It was unbelievable. ... But I would’ve bet you my last dollar that I was gonna be traded, because that’s what all the reports were saying, so I had no idea. But the craziest thing of all is saying me and Raymond Felton were leading a mutiny against Coach McMillan. First off, I have a different type of respect for Nate McMillan, and I told him that when we talked in his office before the season first started. I was like it’s weird being here with you because I watched you growing up in Seattle. When I was a 16-year-old kid I used to go work out with the Sonics. I’ve known Nate since I was 16, and we have a mutual friend who just passed away last year, who told me I would be playing in Portland next season. So besides my respect for Nate, I don’t play that game let’s get the Coach fired; I’ve never been that guy. I pride myself on being a true pro. I’ll start, I’ll come off the bench, I’ll play the one, I’ll play the two, I’ll do whatever’s asked and I’ll do my very best. When we’re losing, I don’t throw anybody under the bus. We win as a team, we lose as a team, that’s just a fact. ------------------------------------------ -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

We should grab him.

Jason Smith and Andre Miller should form a club

Chad Ford of ESPN.com discusses NBA GM's reactions to his first mock draft - which was linked and heavily discussed on BlazersEdge recently. But I thought this part is the most relevant to Blazer fans and what's been discussed here on BEdge lately: "Next year, ESPNU doesn't have one point guard ranked in its top 20 of the incoming recruiting class. The top point guard is Kris Dunn, who signed with Providence, and he's ranked at No. 23. That means waiting until next year for an elite point guard to emerge might prove fruitless. I had a number of GMs tell me Damian Lillard, Kendall Marshall, Tony Wroten Jr., B.J. Young, Marquis Teague and Myck Kabongo could all go higher than they are currently projected. Then again, the dearth of point guards in the 2013 draft could be an incentive for players such as Teague and Kabongo to return to school and possibly go much higher next year.

Seeing as how he probably plans to re-sign in Spain and not look back, this likely means the end of Ruuuuudy in the NBA.

Video: Philippine player challenges Omer Asik for basketball’s best/worst flopper

Thabeet can't even guard 3-4ft tall children. Kidding. Actually he and Johnny Flynn took part in the Make It Better program. Regardless of whether or not these two make an impact on the court for us, I’m damn proud to see these guys getting involved & doing something in the community even though they may only be here for the rest of the season. from the Blazers facebook pagehttp://www.facebook.com/trailblazersI'll post more pics below.

Don't think we will be drafting him, but it makes the draft stronger and likely moves everyone other than Anthony Davis down one draft slot. This is newsworthy also because less than a month ago he said he was returning to UK.