Terrible

about Portlands rep is if the money isn't there like Allen has always given in shopping bags the talent wants no part of this team. Last year even I'm sure TBOB would have overpaid GP for years on a contract that would have strangled this team with an ageing star. This year money will be saved and there are no ex stars ringing the door bell as in years past looking for some lazy days on the chuck wagon. Portland will now have to lie in the bed TBOB paid 100X what he should have for. We have players we can't trade even for free like Damon, attitudes like Sheed and Bonzi, gimps like DA and Pip and questionable characters like Patterson and Q.

This is Karma boys, take a big whiff cause it's being served on a very cold plate.

So this team of ours will now have to prove it can fight, cause after this offseason no one will think this team has a chance of making it out of the first round or some might not think even the playoffs.

This is the team that no one wants and no one wants to be part of.

For all these reasons that is excatly why this team will be very dangerous. There are no expectations and no one to blame but themselves. This reality could bring this team together. It must be hitting some of our players that no one has Portland on top of their list.

Talkhard

Amen! The chickens have come home to roost.

But I think we can still get value for somebody like Wallace. Why not trade him for a starter and a #1 pick? That way we send a clear signal about what kind of team we're going to be, and we give our rebuilding plan a kick in the butt. There is no way this Portland team wins a title anytime soon--not with this bunch of malcontents.

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"Damn the Blazers. Damn them to hell. They are working the rest of the league like a speed bag." --Jay, lifelong Pacers fan

antibody

I think you are dreaming if you think Portland can get value in return for guys like Sheed, Damon, and Ruben. All of these guys have their black marks and no other team will give equal value in return. They will constantly low ball Portland knowing the circumstances. I think it is better to keep Sheed. I could care less about Damon and Ruben. I just don't buy the theory that nobody wants to play for the Blazers now. Payton wants to play for the Lakers to win a title. Portland does need some changes but not a total overhaul. It doesn't make good business sense to dump what you have and get crap or less in return. Allen isn't going to do that.

MAS RipCity

Its great and all that we didn't overpay for GP,but Portland has never been known to get a big time free agent to come here anyways,so where's that money going....nowhere! And to make it worse our biggest rivals now have Gary.

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PDX Fan Since '90

Talkhard

I'm not sure what to think about the Payton situation. On the one hand, I'm glad the Blazers stuck to their guns and didn't give him $10 million a year for 4 years. If his talent level drops significantly a year or two from now, we would be stuck with one more bloated contract. It would be Damon all over again.

On the other hand, Payton is the kind of player who could get us over the hump. Assuming that Wallace and everybody got on board with Payton as the floor general, this team could have been a real contender this year. It seems a shame that a few million dollars a year prevented that from happening.

Sigh. It's tough being a Blazer fan.

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"Damn the Blazers. Damn them to hell. They are working the rest of the league like a speed bag." --Jay, lifelong Pacers fan

Swoosh

Unfortunately, it wasn't just a few million dollars a year...it was more like $20M/year ($10M in salary + $10M in lux tax). If it were just a few million a year, he may be coming here instead of LA (if he were so inclined).

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Go Blazers...and anyone playing the Lakers.

The Blazers are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get.