Blazers interested in retaining Odom

The Portland Trailblazers have extended an $8.8 million qualifying offer to center Greg Oden, making him a restricted free agent.

The move allows the Trailblazers the opportunity to match any offer that another team may extend to Oden.

Oden missed the entire 2010-2011 NBA season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee.

The oft-injured Oden is still only 23 years old, which is a big reason why the Blazers and other teams are still willing to take a chance on him. (Read More…)

Friday, July 1, 2011 at 3:33 pm by steve

Tags: Portland news, Portland schedule, Portland tickets

Wallace angry about trade

Portland Trailblazers forward Gerald Wallace said he felt like he was stabbed in the back after being traded from the Charlotte Bobcats.

Wallace said he still hasn’t gotten over the trade and that it’s the most shocking event of his professional career.

He said it hurt to feel like he wasn’t wanted by the franchise anymore, calling it a slap in the face.

It was made worse by the fact that head coach Paul Silas assured him he was staying put and no trade would take place. (Read More…)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 5:41 pm by steve

Tags: Portland news, Portland schedule, Portland tickets

Blazers acquire G. Wallace

The Portland Trailblazers aren’t ready to throw in the towel just yet after trading for Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace.

Despite all of the injuries, yet again, to the Trailblazers, the team has managed to tread water in the Western Conference and remain in the playoff hunt.

Wallace is sure to come in and make an immediate impact. A lot of Charlotte fans are upset that the team decided to trade away their best player.

He will give the Blazers a guy who can play on the interior and outside. He can knock down three-point shots, rebound, and scare teams with his blocking ability. (Read More…)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 4:07 pm by steve

Tags: Portland news, Portland schedule, Portland tickets

Roy to have surgery on both knees

Portland Trailblazers guard Brandon Roy will undergo arthroscopic surgery on both of his knees.

There is no timetable for his return, but the Trailblazers are certainly not going to rush back their star player.

Roy has already missed 16 games this year because of soreness in his knees, a chronic problem.

He said he is just trying to do whatever is best to get back out on the court as quickly as possible. (Read More…)

Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 8:43 am by steve

Tags: Portland news, Portland schedule, Portland tickets

Oden out for season

Portland Trailblazers center Greg Oden is out for the entire season and will undergo surgery on his left knee.

This is the same knee that he had surgery on just 20 months ago when his patella cracked after banging into a teammate.

Oden is just 22-years old and other players have been hit by the injury bug and later returned healthy and had a successful career.

The Blazers are hopeful the same will happen with Oden, who has a ton of potential but has always been bothered by injuries. (Read More…)

Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 12:57 pm by steve

Tags: Blazers news, Blazers schedule, Blazers tickets

Blazers off to roaring start

By Bud L. Ellis

The Portland Trail Blazers eclipsed the 50-win plateau the past two seasons. They’re already 10 percent to matching that mark, and the NBA season is but a few days old.

The Blazers have set the pace in the Northwest Division in the early days of the 2010-11 season, winning five times in their first seven contests to build a half-game lead over Denver. (Read More…)

Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 2:27 pm by bud

Tags: Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, National Basketball Association, Oklahoma City, Portland Trail Blazers news, Portland Trail Blazers schedule, Portland Trail Blazers tickets, Toronto Raptors

Blazers hire Bickerstaff

The Portland Trailblazers have hired former head coach Bernie Bickerstaff as an assistant coach.

Bickerstaff has been a coach with the Seattle Supersonics, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Bobcats.

He spent the past two seasons as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls and has served as GM with two organizations. (Read More…)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 12:04 pm by steve

Tags: Trailblazers news, Trailblazers schedule, Trailblazers tickets

Blazers trade for Camby

The Portland Trailblazers have traded point guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw to the Los Angeles Clippers for center Marcus Camby.

It’s an interesting deal that helps accomplish a couple of different things for the injury-riddled Blazers.

For one, the team finally finds a center to play solid defense and grab a bunch of rebounds. He was averaging 7.7 points and 12 rebounds per game with Los Angeles.

The deal also finally settles down the ever-crowded point guard situation with the Blazers.

Andre Miller will no longer be looking over his shoulder waiting for Blake to come take his spot, and Jeryd Bayless will get more playing time.

Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 5:34 pm by steve

Blazers Send Outlaw, Blake to Clippers for Camby

In desperate need of a big man for the upcoming Western Conference playoffs, the Trail Blazers jumped right into the trade deadline fun on Tuesday, shipping Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake (along with $3 million of cash considerations) to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for center Marcus Camby’s expiring contract.

Portland was looking good in the frontcourt coming into the season, with Greg Oden starting alongside LaMarcus Aldridge, and Joel Przybilla on the bench as big man relief. One shattered kneecap for Oden, one torn tendon for Przybilla, and the Blazers had resorted to starting 37-year-old Juwan Howard as their center each night.

Enter Camby, who is second in the NBA in rebounds/game (12.1). Camby’s contract expires after the season ends, freeing up cap space for the Blazers when Oden and Przybilla return.

“We are very excited to bring an experienced big man of Marcus’ caliber to the team and we feel he’ll help us a great deal down the stretch run,” Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. “He’s a fierce competitor and has been one of the league’s best defensive players for quite some time.”

Camby is a former defensive player of the year, and a two-time member of the NBA all-defensive team.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 12:21 am by bryan

Kobe-less Lakers Trounce Blazers, 99-82

Here’s how far apart the Los Angeles Lakers are from the rest of the Western Conference: With their best player sidelined by an ankle injury, they can go on the road and thrash a playoff hopefully by nearly 20 points.

Kobe Bryant snapped his streak of 235 consecutive games started after he exacerbated an ankle injury earlier this week, leaving Lamar Odom to start in his place. That was no matter, as the Lakers still rolled the Blazers, 99-82.

Odom filled Bryant’s rather large shoes extremely well, grabbing a career-high 22 rebounds to go along with 10 points. Odom believed that Bryant’s absence brought the rest of the team together to provide them extra focus.

“I think it made us a little more focused as a group, to come in here and do whatever we had to do to stay in the game,” said Odom.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who led the Blazers with 16 points, was asked whether or not the Blazers let their guard down once they found out Kobe would remain on the sideline.

“No, we came to play. The first quarter, we were right there. Second quarter, down eight or so, but we had good looks,” he said. “They just didn’t fall for us tonight. It was just one of those nights were we couldn’t find it.”

The Lakers ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Blazers by eight points to stretch their lead comfortably.

Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 4:42 pm by bryan