ESPN.com'svoters see Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard as thesecond most likely candidateto win the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year award, trailing only the New Orleans Hornets' No. 1 overall pick and overwhelming favorite, Anthony Davis. After Lillard: Charlotte Bobcats forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes, Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal and Toronto Raptors big man Jonas Valanciunas. Here'sDavid ThorpeofESPN.com on Lillard. ----------------------------------------- Lillard showed us all during the Las Vegas summer league games that he is among the most talented point guards to enter the league in the past five seasons. He is even more polished than Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook when they first arrived in the NBA, yet more explosive than most any other of the previous rookie point guards that we have seen. If he gets the green light to make plays, like John Wall, Westbrook, Rose and Kyrie Irving, then undoubtedly we'll see a great number of stellar scoring and passing nights from Lillard. Next to a post presence like LaMarcus Aldridge and veterans like Nicolas Batum and Wes Matthews, Lillard will be able to generate offense through his teammates more than most rookies will be given the chance to. This means his chances at scoring more efficiently are strong. He has the potential to average 16 points and six assists per game with a steal or so thrown in there, too. And though he's not the shooter Irving is, with the weapons around him Lillard can get enough open looks from deep to possibly average better than 35 percent. ----------------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

First Off, I would like to give credit where credit is due, problem is I don't know where it is due. You may recall a couple years ago someone had a similar post highlighting the Blazers offseason in Facebook Status Updates, I just can't remember who that person was. Like some due when they are inspired, I completely stole the idea and tried my attempt at this off season (although it is not as good as the first one, how could I compete with an original version of "I'll Be Missing You" sung int he draft room?!) Feel free to give the credit deserved to the original in the comments, oh and offer any comments on this one as well:

Trailer for movie about Lithuania's 92 team.

Sean Highkin dives into the rookie extensionover atHardwood Paroxysm和写,波特兰开拓者将do well to remember how the Utah Jazz handled the Deron Williams situation while they weigh their future with All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who is about to enter the third year of his 5-year rookie extension. --------------------------------- By trading Williams earlier than they had to, the Jazz were able to maximize their return. This is something the Portland Trail Blazers should take to heart before LaMarcus Aldridge’s contract is up in 2015. Kevin Love is due for a new deal the same year, and although the Timberwolves have the advantage of having Ricky Rubio to build around alongside Love, he has already expressed an impatience to make the playoffs and contend for a championship. If he can’t do that in Minnesota in the next two years, it’s likely they’ll be forced to deal him. But doing it sooner could give them a better foundation on which to rebuild. This approach is not without risk. Dangling a star in trade talks before he publicly asks for a trade could make the entire proposition something of a self-fulfilling prophecy—if he sees that he isn’t wanted, he may want out even if he didn’t before. In the case of Aldridge, he has so far said all the right things about being willing to stay the course through Portland’s rebuilding effort. If the Blazers were to start dangling him in trade talks within the next 18 months, they would run the risk of alienating him from the organization and diminishing his eagerness to see the rebuild through. But that rebuild is only a few blown draft picks or ill-advised free-agent signings from collapsing, and it will be difficult for him to justify signing on to waste the rest of his prime on another half-decade of 35-win teams. And this is where the problem lies for the Blazers: With the exception of Rajon Rondo (and, I suppose, LeBron James), Aldridge probably has the best contract of any elite player in the league. He’s making between $13 and 16 million per year for the remaining three seasons on his deal, which makes him extremely attractive to teams looking to add a franchise-caliber star without completely tying up their cap. This combined with the significant amount of team control left on the contract should mean Portland would get a return comparable to what the Jazz got for Williams, should they decide to move him. --------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Basketball statistics guruEd Kupferhas charted an expected strength of schedule spectrum based on the average opponent's winning percentage predicted inESPN.com'sNBAsummer forecasts. Full-size imagehere. Kupfer's chart show the Blazers are expected to have the NBA's fourth most difficult schedule, following the New Orleans Hornets, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to have the easiest schedule among Western Conference teams. The Miami Heat are expected to have the easiest schedule overall. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Very interesting... the roster page has added our new players in Leonard, Barton, and Lillard. It has also gotten rid of our traded players in Felton and Thomas, but it has also kept Jonny Flynn. Do they plan on keeping him around? It also already has Terry Stotts. But 18 players. Does that mean they don't finalize anything until a certain date? My main interest is if we keep Flynn. They gave him a picture and kept his number 3 and everything. another page here: http://www.iamatrailblazersfan.com/Home/Players/tabid/56/Default.aspx

Rookie photo shoot

Jerry Zgodaof theStar Tribune reports on Twitterthat Portland Trail Blazers Player Development Director Dean Cooper will return to the Houston Rockets after two years in Portland. ---------------------------------- Former [Timberwolves] and Blazers [assistant] Dean Cooper is headed back to Houston to join Kevin McHale's coaching staff ---------------------------------- Cooper was brought to Portland by former GM Rich Choback in September 2010. Former Blazers assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff isheaded to the Los Angeles Lakerswhile fellow former assistant Bob Ociepka hasjoined the Los Angeles Clippers. New Blazers coach Terry Stottsannouncedthe hiring of three assistant coaches last week. The status of Dan Dickau, Portland's Player Development Assistant, has reportedly not yet been finalized. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

偶然发现这个视频的麦蒂vs鹰派(执教by terry stotts) joel przybilla sighting!