More pub for DamianBatman.

The Portland Trail Blazers have filmed the"Get To Know" videoused during timeouts at the Rose Garden for rookie guard Damian Lillard. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Dylan MurphyofDIMEMag.com has a brief interviewwith Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Meyers Leonard. ------------------------------------Dime: What’s the first thing you bought with NBA money?ML: I already got a Porsche Panamera. Otherwise I’m gonna save and invest my money.Dime: How do you think Portland is going to do next season?ML: I think we’re still in somewhat of a rebuilding mode, but even that, they took Damian, who is a very very good player, with the sixth pick, and myself with the 11th. Obviously we have an All-Star in LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews is a very good player, and the rest of the guys around them, I think we have some very good pieces to be able to put together some wins. ------------------------------------ Back in March, Leonardtweetedthat his dream car was the Porsche Panamera Turbo, which comes with a list price of $138,650. Pictures and video of the car onPorsche.com here. Leonard, 20, will make $2.13 million in 2012-13, according toStoryTellersContracts.com. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Jim Polzinof theWisconsin State Journal writesthat Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews is looking forward to embracing the underdog role next year following a tough 2011-12 season. ----------------------------- "It was frustrating because when plays aren’t run for you, you get your game going through the flow of the team," Matthews said. "So when the team wasn’t flowing, I wasn’t flowing. When the team was flowing I was flowing, and that’s the way I want to play and felt good. And the next night, we’d lay an egg. That part got to me." "I’m always excited to play basketball, but something is different about this year," Matthews said. "It’s a rebuilding year. The way things are shaping up in the West, no one’s really expecting us to do anything. So I like those odds. I like that feeling where you’re counted out." ----------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Bill IngramofHoopsWorld.com lists five players他们必须进化在2012 - 13赛季Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum tops the list. ----------------------------- The Blazers were originally doing this very much the Oklahoma City way. They drafted great players, planning to develop them into a collective that could dominate the Western Conference for years to come. If Brandon Roy and Greg Oden hadn’t gotten hurt, they would likely be right on track. In the wake of those injuries, the rebuilding process has come back around, and as much as that depends on the development of rookies Damien Lillard and Meyers Leonard, this has to be Nicolas Batum’s year. He got the hefty pay check, now it’s time for him to become the player the Blazers keep saying he’s going to be. ----------------------------- Blazers forward J.J. Hickson was listed as an "honorable mention" on the list as well. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Printable schedule I put together for this season. I thought I'd again share it here.OctoberNovemberDecemberJanuaryFebruaryMarchApril

Zach LoweofSI.com compiles a listof players who could become Hall of Famers while only playing for one NBA team. Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge makes the list as a "future candidate" but Lowe writes that the prospect of a trade looms. ------------------------------- As things stand now, here’s a quick list of some future candidates to join this group as they pile up career accomplishments. All of these players have signed extensions to their rookie deals, so they’ve passed Step 1. There’s little point in considering the one-team possibility before a player takes that step. LaMarcus Aldridge: Three relatively affordable years on his deal (about $15 million annually) as the centerpiece on a rebuilding team. Portland will get calls. ------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Bill Simmonsof pop culture, entertainment, gardening, interior decoration, pottery, gambling, home living, culture, celebrity gossip and sports websiteGrantland.com——也被称为“体育人”说a recent episodeof theB.S. Report播客,他认为纽约尼克斯队的射线mond Felton is poised for a major bounce-back season after catching so much grief over his conditioning during his one year with the Portland Trail Blazers. The discussion began with an analysis of the 4-team blockbuster deal that sent All-Star center Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Simmons argued that guard Jason Richardson, who went from the Magic to the Philadelphia 76ers, should play with an edge next season because he was treated as a salary that needed to be dumped. ----------------------------------- "If [Richardson] is any kind of competitor and has any juice in the tank left, the fact that he was just regarded a a throw-in, as somebody whose contract has to be taken if we're dealing Dwight [Howard]. He was rendered so meaningless. How does that not affect you as a competitor? "I feel the same way about Ray Felton, who I think in just about any other situation might have been done as a basketball player. He took so much heat in Portland last year, he took so much heat for being fat. Then he signs with the Knicks and the Knicks fans are just furious that they let go of Jeremy Lin. "I think it's going to work in their favor in a weird way. I think he's going to have a big year. How does he not show up in shape this year? Does he have any pride as a human being? He's got to show up in shape, right? He's probably working out right now. "Did you see his quote? His quote was, I think, my favorite quote of 2012 by an athlete. He was mad about how people were talking about how fat he was. He's like, I don't know the exact words, but he's like, 'I've been in shape for seven of the eight years of my career.' "You've got to love that. 'I've been in shape for seven of the eight years of my career!'" ----------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

Tom ZillerofSBNation.comhas heard the protests and has provided a rebuttal. After writing that he thought former Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillanseemed like he would have been "perfect"for rookie guard Damian Lillard, you guys responded with more than 300 comments. On Sunday, Zillerexplained his reasoning. Here's a snippet. ----------------------------- McMillan certainly did not develop the young point guards Portland has recently hosted, from Sergio Rodriguez to Jerryd Bayless to Patty Mills. He didn't trust them. He trusted steady Steve Blake and Old Man Andre Miller. But there was a young ball-dominant player that Mac did trust: Brandon Roy, the 2007 Rookie of the Year and, of all the players mentioned in this paragraph, the closest comp to Lillard. With Roy, who was relatively sure-handed, incredibly smart in reading the defense and had a jumper all along, McMillan loosened the reins. He trusted Roy in a way he never ever ever came close to trusting Spanish Chocolate, Bayless or Mills. McMillan famously kept his offense down-tempo, and Roy fit that. The truer point guards didn't -- Rodriguez and Mills are blurs whose advantages are their speed, and Bayless lived in the mold of Gilbert Arenas, who thrived when his conscience was restricted. A player like Roy could hardly turn off his conscience -- thoughtful play was an innate part of his game, not a necessary accessory. ----------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter

TheDallas Morning Newshascompiled a photo tourof a Southlake, TX, home owned by Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge that is currently on the market for $1.75 million. Photos viaRealtor.com, which offersthese detailsabout the home. --------------------------------------- Portland Trail Blazers forward-center and 2012 NBA All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge is selling his offseason home in Southlake, TX. The Dallas native, who starred at Seagoville High and later the University of Texas at Austin for two years before turning pro, originally purchased the suburban property back in 2011, paying $1.64 million at the time, and is currently asking $1.749 million for the house. It is the latest real estate transaction for the basketball standout, who put his Lake Oswego, OR pad on the market in 2009 and another home in Irving, TX up for sale just last year. Built in 2007, Aldridge’s pad offers 6,950-square-feet of living space spread over two floors. Highlights of the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom spread include a gourmet kitchen, billiards room, theater room and a gaming room, while the master suite is replete with a private fireplace and beverage station. Set on a lot of nearly one acre, Aldridge’s backyard features a flagstone-lined patio and play area set under a sizeable loggia, with a pool, spa and fire pit found adjacent. --------------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter