Jerry ZgodaofStarTribune.com reportsthat Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Nolan Smith will play in an exhibition game hosted by his "longtime pal" Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley. The game will be played on Oct. 21 in Minnesota and proceeds will go to St. Jude's and other charities. Smith has been a fixture at similar games all summer, playing in exhibitions inSeattle,in Utahand in theNorth-Carolina pro-am. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

In an editorial forTechnologyReview.com, Portland Trail Blazers owner and Microsoft co-founderPaul Allenjoins with computer scientistMark Greavestowritethat human beings are likely to remain smarter than machines for the foreseeable future. ------------------------------- Futurists like Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil have argued that the world is rapidly approaching a tipping point, where the accelerating pace of smarter and smarter machines will soon outrun all human capabilities. They call this tipping point the singularity, because they believe it is impossible to predict how the human future might unfold after this point. Once these machines exist, Kurzweil and Vinge claim, they'll possess a superhuman intelligence that is so incomprehensible to us that we cannot even rationally guess how our life experiences would be altered. Vinge asks us to ponder the role of humans in a world where machines are as much smarter than us as we are smarter than our pet dogs and cats. Kurzweil, who is a bit more optimistic, envisions a future in which developments in medical nanotechnology will allow us to download a copy of our individual brains into these superhuman machines, leave our bodies behind, and, in a sense, live forever. It's heady stuff. While we suppose this kind of singularity might one day occur, we don't think it is near. In fact, we think it will be a very long time coming. ------------------------------- To boil this down: The robot invasion is coming eventually but don't hold your breath. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

The lockout as a cartoon: Taiwanese/Hong Kong media company Next Media Animation (NMA.tv), notorious especially in the tech scene for its highly-figurative, comedic illustrations of current world events, explains its viewers the NBA lockout. I really like the laughing David Stern with a chainsaw, the Detroit Pistons and other teams on their death beds, and LeBron having to make do with a more modest house and car while being forced to wear an uncomfortable "hard salary cap". Note: I linked the Mandarin version with English subtitles for the full effect, but you can also hear an English narrator when clicking on the link in the video.

Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridgecomes inat No. 23 inESPN.com'sTop 500 NBA players list. Previous Blazers listed arehere,here,here,here,here,hereandhere. Every notable member of the Blazers has now been accounted for. Here's the full list. LaMarcus Aldridge -- 23 Gerald Wallace -- 48 Brandon Roy -- 59 Nicolas Batum -- 70 Marcus Camby -- 74 Raymond Felton -- 80 Wesley Matthews -- 100 Greg Oden -- 184 Patty Mills -- 316 Nolan Smith -- 394 Luke Babbitt -- 404 Armon Johnson -- 419 Elliot Williams -- 452 Chris Johnson -- 461 -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Trey KerbyofThe Basketball Jones takes his turnhandicapping which NBA player will put on a lot of weight during the downtime and become this lockout's Shawn Kemp. Portland Trail Blazers point guard Raymond Felton comes in with the fourth best odds behind Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Baron Davis and Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu. ----------------------- Raymond Felton (6-1): Kind of a dark horse candidate, but I think this is a good bet. He’s on his third team in a year, he’s got a stocky build and there is less to do in Portland than in New York. Unless Raymond’s an outdoorsman, he might get bored being away from a big city. -----------------------Back in June, Felton was photographed with a cupcake and it's been all downhill from there. He's been called"roly-poly", he's been accused of having a "potbelly" and he has有建议that he should "keep cupcakes to a minimum." He was also tabbed as a favorite to put on weight by theHuffington Post in July. Felton was active on theNorth Carolina pro-am circuitthis summer and was in Texaslast weekworking out with six of his Blazers teammates. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Something that has been the center of much passionate debate on these boards, is apparently being considered for real.

My new Blazers Mix, please leave feedbacks. Thanks!!! #StandUnited #EndTheLockout

Dan ShapiroofSlamOnline.com writes,波特兰开拓者前锋阿Aldridge has been ranked No. 18 in the NBA by the magazine's panel of voters. ----------------------------- This might be the biggest jump on this year’s Top-50 list. At No. 42 going into last season, LaMarcus Aldridge was a guy with respectable numbers and a ton of potential. The thinking was: He’s only 25, he’s got all this raw talent and he’s a big man—who tend to develop slower. ... When he’s on the court he seems to be involved in every play in the vicinity of the basket. With Wesley Matthews, the now-traded Rudy Fernandez and Andre Miller, LaMarcus Aldridge was on the backend of countless ‘oops—a skill indicative of his feel for the spacing of the court and touch around the basket. That’s rare for a guy of his size and athleticism. This year he became of those guys who had a presence on the court. It’s an element of a game that can’t be computed to a stat, but when you have to be constantly aware of one guy when he’s on the court—devoting double-teams to him, loosing your normal offensive rhythms—that, to me, defines an elite player. ----------------------------- Gerald Wallace is the only other member of the Blazers to make Slam's list. Hechecked inat No. 41. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

"At the very moment the commissioner of the NBA is holding up the New Jersey Nets as a case study of basketball's impoverishment, the former owner of the team is crowing about 10 percent returns and the new owner is boasting of "explosive" profits. After the end of last season, one imagines that David Stern gathered together the league's membership for a crash course on lockout etiquette: stash the yacht in St. Bart's until things blow over, dress off the rack, insist on the '93 and '94 Cháteau Lafite Rothschilds, not the earlier, flashier, vintages. For rich white men to plead poverty, a certain self-discipline is necessary. "

"My dream is that the Spurs sign Nicolas Batum" Parker said in an interview. He confirms that the Spurs intended to draft him. (Remember that they took George Hill instead and just traded him for a very good small forward in this draft...)