CSKA Moscow (featuring our old pal Khryapa, Kirilenko and the best youngish Euro PG Milos Teodosic) vs. Panathanaikos (featuring the best Euro player of the past several years, the great Greek PG Dimitris Diamantidis)

Joe FreemanofThe Oregonian reportsthat Portland Trail Blazers Acting GM Chad Buchanan remains interested in bringing 2006 Draft pick Joel Freeland, and possibly 2009 Draft pick Victor Claver, to the NBA for the 2012-2013 season. --------------------------------- "We'd really like to bring them both over," Blazers interim general manager Chad Buchanan said. "We're going to be aggressive to get them signed and get them in a Blazers uniform next season. Any deal will have to make sense for Joel, for Victor and for the Blazers and our offseason plans. But if we had a choice, we'd like to get them both signed." ... And even though Portland holds the rights to both players, it has been three draft classes since the Blazers acquired them, so they essentially will be treated as free agents, meaning the Blazers will have to use cap space or part of their midlevel exception to sign them. Buchanan said the team will reach out to both players before free agency starts on July 1, but negotiations could drag out well into the free agent signing period. ---------------------------------text edited, bumped to front page

Not that this hasn't been said already, but Greg Oden has disappointed fans. What is worst, is the fact that when he was hurt, he turned in the International Man of Mystery. Where was he? He didn't actively support the team. Complete disappointment.

This doesn't sound good.

Chris BroussardofESPN.com reportsthat the Portland Trail Blazers have interest in Atlanta Hawks GM Rick Sund for their open GM position. ---------------------------- General manager Rick Sund, in the last year of his contract, has drawn interest from the Portland Trail Blazers, according to sources. The Blazers recently asked the Hawks for permission to speak to Sund, but Hawks ownership refused to grant permission until its season ended. Sund agreed with ownership's stance. "I don't want to discuss anything until the end of the season," Sund said by telephone before Thursday's season-ending 83-80 loss to the Boston Celtics. "At the end of the season, we'll address the future." Sund's contract ends on June 30 and the Hawks have attempted to initiate talks about a contract extension. ----------------------------ed: text edited, bumped to front page

Egh......i'm not touching this one....

Reacting toa lengthy and candid interviewof Greg Oden published on Wednesday,Henry AbbottofTrueHoopwritesthat the former Portland Trail Blazers center needs to take responsibility for the events of his life. ----------------------------- Somewhere around there I reached the point of enough already with the excuses. NBA players have the right to get their own medical advice, apart from the team, whenever they want it. Players do that all the time. But Oden never really pursued that too aggressively, which blows my mind. ... Maybe it's too tall an order to expect an injured young athlete to take charge of complex affairs in that way. It's normal and right to make mistakes when you're young. That's cool. But it's getting past time when we can blame anybody but Greg, for instance, for things Greg did or didn't do. The truth is he has had a ton of bad luck and a ton of good luck. Put it all together, and he can create all kinds of success and happiness, and we won't have to keep hearing such sad stories. ----------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Reacting toa lengthy and candid interviewof Greg Oden published on Wednesday,John CanzanoofThe Oregonianwritesthat the former Portland Trail Blazers center's time in Portland was full of bad decisions that he needs to reflect upon. ----------------------------- Good on Oden for speaking to his friend. Good for the friend for writing about it. But if the aim of the piece was to humanize Oden, no thanks. He was humanized just fine by the line of bad decisions he made in Portland, ranging from his injuries to his admission about alcohol abuse to that photograph to that dastardly faux-hawk haircut to his sporadic training regimen and an evident disinterest in being around the team in the end. What's more human than Oden, once again, failing to accept any responsibility for being a bust and instead blaming Portland? I get it, Greg. You've got plenty of money. You'll live. You blame a lot of things for your inability to get it together. Sorry that people still ask you for autographs. But what I have yet to hear, see or feel, is Oden looking deeply at himself and his own failings. ----------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Frank Isolaof theNew York Daily News writes纽约尼克斯队是我nterested in acquiring Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, an unrestricted free agent this summer, but that they could have competition for his services from several teams, including the Portland Trail Blazers. ------------------------------------ One dark horse team could be the Portland Trail Blazers, the nearest NBA city to Nash’s hometown of Vancouver. Nash has several business interests in Vancouver, including ownership in the Major League Soccer team there, and playing for the Trail Blazers would make sense personally and professionally for him. ------------------------------------ -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Adrian WojnarowskiofYahoo! Sports reportsthat Indiana Pacers GM David Morway will get a second interview for the Portland Trail Blazers open GM job, this time with owner Paul Allen. ------------------------ After a strong interview with Portland Trail Blazers officials on Wednesday, Indiana Pacers general manager David Morway will meet with team owner Paul Allen on Friday to further discuss the franchise's GM job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Morway and former New Orleans Hornets GM Jeff Bower have emerged as frontrunners for the long-vacated Blazers job. ------------------------Sam AmickofSI.com confirmsthe upcoming interview for Morway. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter