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Chad Ford grades the Blazers
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
Round 1: LaMarcus Aldridge, PF, Texas (No. 2, acquired from Chicago)
Brandon Roy, SG, Washington (No. 6, acquired from Minnesota)
Sergio Rodriguez , PG Spain (No. 27, acquired from Phoenix)
Joel Freeland, PF, England (No. 30, acquired from Detroit)
Analysis: Six trades. Wow. They get points for just having the guts to pull that off in one night.
They get more points for having the fortitude to stand up to a mob of "Draft the 'Stache" groupies who wanted Adam Morrison in Portland.
But what gets them an "A" grade, ultimately, is the quality of the players they ended up with.
They started the night with the No. 4, No. 30 and No. 31 picks. They ended it with LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Raef LaFrentz, Joel Freeland and Sergio Rodriguez.
Of the four, Roy is my favorite pick, and I like the way they maneuvered to get him. The Blazers caught wind of the Wolves' plan to take Roy and trade him to the Rockets. So Portland drafted the guy the Wolves wanted, Randy Foye, forcing the Wolves to send Roy to Portland for Foye.
And the trade to No. 2, while it might have seemed unnecessary, took a player they didn't want off their roster and got them the assurance that they were getting the guy ranked No. 1 on their board.
Freeland and Rodriguez have a lot of potential and could be excellent assets in a couple of years.
Blazers fans may be disappointed that Morrison is in Charlotte, but the truth is that this is one of the better moments the Blazers have had in the last five years. Aldridge and Roy have a chance to be stars, and the Blazers rid themselves of another bad chemistry guy in Sebastian Telfair.
If they find a way to dump Darius Miles and Zach Randolph this summer, the purge will be complete. Paul Allen needs to give the GM job permanently to Kevin Pritchard. He earned it on Wednesday.
Grade: A
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Chad Ford grades the Blazers
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