Portland Holds All the Cards
So Portland won the Oden sweepstakes which will give them one of the most formiddable front court for the next 10 years. I really do think that. Aldridge and Oden will be amazing together. Aldridge has a smooth jumper from 15 feet and will be a great high post complement to Oden’s interior game.
Honestly, though, Portland is set up for a lot of things this summer, and could seriously shake up the draft. All the talk has been about Oden, but let us not forget that all the wheeling and dealing Portland did last year not only netted them two of the best rookies last season in Roy and Aldridge, it also allowed them to acquire four 2nd Round picks in this season’s NBA Draft. Everyone agrees that this is one of the most loaded draft classes in a long time, and Portland could use that to their advantage by either stockpiling sleeper picks, or combining picks and players like Magloire, Pryzbilla, or Fred Jones to bring in some more players.
Zach Randolph is a very tradable commodity. Then again, so are Joel Pryzbilla and Jamal Magloire. Sure, Magloire looked like a stiff on the decline last season, but he is still a decent big man. Last time I checked, there was a serious shortage of those, and serviceable big men are valuable assets. I think Portland could use some small forward help, and there are two potential sign-and-trade players out there, Rashard Lewis and Gerald Wallace.
There is also the possibility of trying to combine some of those second round picks to trade into the late first round to get another solid player, if there is a guy available. Portland could once again be the most active team during the Draft, despite being completely set with the first overal pick. The options really are endless for Portland right now, and they had no problem wheeling-and-dealing last summer. With four second round picks, Jones, Pryzbilla, Outlaw, Magloire, and Randolph as potential trade bait, Portland could really shake things up this summer.
