Joe FreemanofThe Oregonianis on a roll today. Hereports波特兰开拓者是reset button on their search for a new GM and could be turning towards more experienced candidates. ------------------------------ League source: Blazers are no longer looking at the candidates they have interviewed for GM job and will, essentially, start search over. Blazers president Larry Miller spent Thursday calling all the candidates he had interviewed and informed them they were out of running. Miller would not address specifics of this, but did admit the Blazers were "expanding our search." But a league source told me former New Orleans GM Jeff Bower and Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski will be among the Blazers' new GM targets. ------------------------------Last week,Adrian WojnarowskiofYahoo! Sports hintedthat this might happen. ------------------------------ Portland officials conducting the search have failed to reach a consensus on bringing in candidates to meet owner Paul Allen, and had started gauging the interest of more established GMs in the league. Blazers officials hope that offering more money to higher-profile candidates could convince some to push their own owners to let them get involved in the search. ------------------------------ Blazers president Larry Miller said that he "hopes" to have a GM in place when the ongoing NBA lockout ends but he wouldn't guarantee it when askeda few weeks ago. The position has been empty since the Blazers abruptly fired former GM Rich Choback in May. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

As BE vets will know, there was in the past a certain looseness with commenters making references to ways in which people who were unable to watch their beloved Blazers on TV might access that content in other ways. Dave and company made it pretty clear that they didn't want that to happen anymore, and as a community we've been good about this and it hasn't been an issue. Now it appears that this subtle change in site policy might have been driven by more than purely commercial concerns. Dave has never tried to blame this policy change on anyone else that I have seen, and there's no reason to suspect that's he's personally been leaned on by external forces. Nevertheless, I think this is a topic worth discussing and something to keep in mind whenever this lockout-foresaken season gets started.

Joe FreemanofThe Oregonian reportsthat the Portland Trail Blazers have decided how they will fill the bench absence left by the departure of former assistant coach Billy Bayno. ------------------------- Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan plans to promote advance scout Larry Greer to assistant coach to replace the departed Bill Bayno, a team source has told The Oregonian. The Blazers are finalizing Greer's contract, but it is 99 percent complete and the source expects the deal to become official within the next few days. -------------------------In mid-September, Bayno agreed to a multi-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves to join head coach Rick Adelman's staff. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Charley WaltersofTwinCities.com reportsthat the Minnesota Timberwolves will hire Blazers broadcasting sideline reporter and former Portland Trail Blazers point guard Terry Porter as an assistant coach to Rick Adelman once the ongoing NBA lockout is resolved. ---------------------- The Minnesota Timberwolves won't be hiring any of new coach Rick Adelman's assistants until the NBA lockout is resolved. But when it is, former Wolves guard Terry Porter will be among them. Porter, 48, who coached the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, played for Adelman for six seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. He also interviewed for the Wolves' head coaching job. ---------------------- Porter has reportedly been "in the mix" sincelast week. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Jorge SierraofHoopsHype.com caught upwith British big man Joel Freeland, whose rights are held by the Portland Trail Blazers. ------------------------- "(The NBA) is a goal of mine, but I’m still going to weigh my options," Freeland told HoopsHype. "We’ll see what happens next year. The NBA is definitely a place where I want to be. If I feel like I’m 100 percent ready and I’ve got the opportunity to make the step, I’ll make the step. If not, I’ll continue doing what I’m doing. "(The Blazers) came over to see me maybe four, five times. We had some dinners, some meetings and everything. Overall it was good. I haven’t had much of communication lately because of the lockout. I know they are keeping an eye on me and they got me in mind, so we’ll see what happens." ------------------------- Freelandaveraged在2011年EuroB 11.2分和5.8个篮板asket for Great Britain, including a 27-point effort on 12-for-12 shooting against Poland. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Ryan Pravato ranksthe 30 NBA teams in terms of who has the most talent that is 25 years old and under atPistonPowered.com. The Portland Trail Blazers finish No. 19 out of 30. ------------------------- Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Greg Oden, Patty Mills, Armon Johnson, Elliot Williams, Luke Babbitt, Nolan Smith (rookie), Jon Diebler (rookie) Safe and reliable, above-average players in Mathews and Batum here – though, I’m looking for Batum to make that next giant leap in this his fourth year. Nolan Smith is a rock-solid point guard. If Diebler could cover a cupboard, I’d feel much better about his chances at sticking. ------------------------- The top five: Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves and Sacramento Kings. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

In the FanShots,simoninaustraliapoints out that theNBA Jam: On Firevideo game has been released. You're looking at a screenshot of Portland Trail Blazers forward Gerald Wallace sizing up New Orleans Hornets forward David Westvia EA.com. More information on the gamehere. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

TMZ.com reportsthat former Portland Trail Blazers guard J.R. Rider was arrested for violating the terms of his probation set in place after he attempted to elude police officers while "driving erratically" back in 2010. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Tom ZillerofSBNation.com takes a lookat what's next for four "fringe contenders" once the lockout ends. Here's his assessment of the Portland Trail Blazers. ------------------------ Yes, I am being a little liberal on use of the phrase "fringe contenders"; like the Nuggets, the Blazers were excised from the NBA Playoffs in the first round (albeit in six games to the Dallas Mavericks). With the Blazers, it's not a question of contention or rebuilding -- with LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Raymond Felton, this should be a playoff team. But it's a matter of how the Blazers will look, what parts of their past they will take forward that the immediate lockout aftermath will dictate. Question No. 1 with a bullet is Brandon Roy. He has $69 million remaining on his contract. That's one helluvan amnesty option, especially if the league's amnesty clause wipes money off of the cap in addition to the luxury tax rolls. But at the same time, even hobbled he might be Portland's best perimeter playmaker, he has a still-great rapport with Aldridge, the team's best player, and the Blazers are better with Roy than without. But $69 million, y'all. Greg Oden is a little different: he hasn't actually contributed much to Portland over the last four seasons. Oden could take the mystery out of his situation by signing the team's (pricey) qualifying offer, which will essentially act as a one-year deal, allowing the lumberjack to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. But if Oden doesn't take the one-year flyer and opts for the chance at stability, and a team (like say, Detroit?) rolls the dice on a multi-year deal ... at what point do the Blazers cut their losses, cap their sunk costs and allow themselves to allow Oden to potentially make his mark somewhere else? Remember that when on the court, Oden has been pretty damned good. This isn't a Hasheem Thabeet situation. ------------------------ -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

The Portland lineup features Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Wallace and Felton. It also has Clyde Drexler and Bill Walton as unlockable players, plus you can play as Blaze (the mascot)! Get excited Portland!