Nice pickup by the Spurs. They're making the push for the playoffs with small tweaks. Via RealGM: The San Antonio Spurs have signed 6 foot 8 swingman Danny Green who has been playing with the Reno Bighorns in the D-League. He averaged 20.1 points, a team high, along with 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 points in 16 games with the Bighorns. Green played for the Spurs for six days in November, scoring six points.

First try ;-)

RealGM and DraftExpress perspectives on the draft and who Portland may take (I personally do not agree)... 19. Portland Trail Blazers Jonas Valanciunas (Center) Lietuvos Rytas, 18 years old, 6'11", 240 lbs. Valanciunas has good potential at the center position, but he doesn’t offer a whole lot on offense other than in the pick and roll. He can hit a little 15-foot jumper, but I don’t like his post potential right now and doesn’t finish especially well. His style is not very pleasing to the eyes with the way his arms flail excessively on both ends of the floor, so I’m perhaps prejudiced on that front. Valanciunas is a project center without a ton of upside. 20. Portland Trailblazers: Jordan Hamilton (SF) Texas, 6'7", 210 lbs, Sophmore, 20 years old Hamilton doesn’t have the athleticism to be a lead wing scorer because he can’t get his own high percentage shots, but he has a good all-around game with good fluidity. The question for Hamilton’s future simply comes down to how good he becomes as a spot-up shooter. Now, for the top prospects via RealGm: 1. Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving, PG, Duke Irving is a smooth, confident and cerebral point guard, who understands the nuance of the game and has excellent all-around ability. He is an inventive shotmaker near the bucket despite lacking supreme explosion. Without question he has plus athleticism, but he is not a physical freak in the way Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, John Wall and Rajon Rondo are physical freaks. For that reason, he has far more in common with points guards of the early 1990s like Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway. 2. Sacramento Kings: Derrick Williams, PF, Arizona 3. Minnesota Timberwolves: Enes Kanter, PF, Kentucky 4. Washington Wizards: Harrison Barnes, SF, North Carolina 5. Toronto Raptors: Perry Jones, PF, Baylor Draft Express has it as such: 1. Kyrie Irving (PG) 2. Jonas Valanciunas (C) 3. Jared Sullinger (PF) 4. Perry Jones (PF) 5. Derrick Williams (PF) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- My thoughts are that Portland could use either a PG of the future, since Mills or Armon have yet to prove anything except spot minutes off the bench; a banger power forward to back-up Aldridge/Wallace in the future (Sullivan); or a Center who's good enough to provide minutes at the 5 when Camby is gone and/or Oden never gets healthy enough. I am more attracted to the following prospects: Brandon Knight (PG), Jared Sullinger (PF), Donatas Motiejunas (PF), Kemba Walker (PG), Nolan Smith (PG), Nikola Vucevic (C). With Paul Allen's deep pockets who knows if we could buy our way higher in the draft or whatnot. Check out theto see much more in depth analysis on the 2011 draft.

and with the first pick in the 2007 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select...

goyo, Keizer, Oregon You had the Blazers as an 85% of making the playoffs as a 7 seed. Who would the Blazers wanna face to have a chance to make it out of the first round? Oklahoma? Dallas? John Hollinger I'd think you'd want a shot at Dallas in the No. 6 position, that gives a much better shot of advancing than L.A. Although the Blazer crowd will froth at the mouth against the Lakers and L.A. always has problems playing up there, the problem is they have to win at least once on the road; have a feeling they're much better suited to doing that in Dallas.

Reports out of the Portland Trail Blazers' shootaround have forward Gerald Wallace starting in place of center Marcus Camby tonight against the Dallas Mavericks.Jason QuickofThe Oregonianreportsthat there "is no indication if this is permanent." Quickreported Monday nightthat Camby has been feeling "soreness" in his left knee following a recent arthroscopic surgery but that a follow-up examination "showed no reason for concern." -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Here'smy lengthy takefrom the 2011 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference over atHoopsHype. I forgot to link it up last week. And here'syour daily reminderto join the Blazersedge Readers 2011 NCAA Bracket competition. More than 200 people joined in the first 24 hours. Get in on it. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

TheWall Street Journalhas an article byDarren EversonandBen Cohen关于所有NBA和大学球员“拟合mselves with pantomimed spectacles" after making 3-pointers. Yes, they give the Blazers credit: ----------------------- The goggles started earlier this season in Portland as a joke. Patty Mills, a guard for the NBA's Trail Blazers, liked to tease teammate Rudy Fernandez about his poor eyesight. "I'd always give him a little bit—well, not a little bit, but a lot of grief for not being able to see," Mills said. In the first half of one particular game, Fernandez struggled from long range. Mills said he told Fernandez at halftime that he needed glasses or contact lenses—something. After halftime, Fernandez hit a few three-pointers. He turned to Mills on the bench and brought his pointer finger and thumb together in a circle over his eyes, with his three other fingers extended upward. "It was like, 'I don't need glasses. I've got these three goggles that work perfectly,'" Mills said. ----------------------- So, how did it spread so fast to the college ranks? It seems Wesley Matthews may have had a hand in that: ----------------------- While some teams don't even know where the goggles came from or what the gesture means, others are fully aware. Marquette's players started to mark three-pointers with goggles for their Jan. 10 home game against Notre Dame after Wesley Matthews, a Marquette alumnus now with the Trail Blazers, called Johnson-Odom, a Marquette junior guard, and told him about the latest trend in Portland. "He made sure that we did it," Johnson-Odom said. -----------------------ed: bumped to front page

yessir that's what im talkin' about...some much needed props for my boii L.A.