The Boston-Trailblazer Watch

No team has shaken up and improved their roster to the same degree as the Portland Trailblazers and the Boston Celtics. Both of these teams have made savvy draft picks and transaction that should allow them to be competitive for the forseeable future(Boston less so, they are gunna get old FAST)...


Anyway, Watch this Spot, as i will periodically chronical the progress of these two sculpted teams, with specific attention being paid the the offseason additions and how they have/are improving/destroying the team..


This means the main focus of this blog is;
-Greg oden- The question is not Will he dominate? the question is now, How long til he dominates. G-Od(you like?) will someday be a force in the league, but how far he can take portland in his rookie season remains to be seen.


-LaMarcus Aldridge- I know he isn't a rookie or "off-season addition" but this guy was ballin' in the summer league, and many experts have tipped him to have a breakout year. here's hoping.


- The bigGER three- New jersey and washington both have their own 'big three' (jefferson-carter-kidd and jamison-butler-arenas respectively) but i think its fair to say that no-one will dare call them that this season expecially since they are now in the same conference as the most lethal current 3-man combination in the NBA.. However, with the amount of money being spent on these guys, the celts are not going to be able to afford much in the way of help, so its going to see who they try and put around the stars to help them win. For this squad, anything less than a Finals appearance(im not convinced they could beat the spurs/suns/mavericks in a 7-game series, because despite their enormous skill, there is a distinct lack of finals experience) will be considered a wasted season.


- I will also try and give these guys a look-in; Brandon Roy, Doc Rivers(its gunna be interesting how he runs this squad), rajon rondo(one of the best PG's in last years draft, will be an fringe-allstar in his career), and anyone else who decides its their time to shine.



I feel like Danny Ainge has given Doc the pieces necessary to be a very competitive team in the eastern conference but i just feel like the west is to good. By taking on the mammoth contracts of ray allen and KG(along with P-doubles existing one) he is spending about $60 mil a year on 3 aging players. His window of opportunity is very small, but, if they come out with even one championship, then it is all worth it.


Portland will be good, not great this year. but dont get me wrong, THE TRAILBLAZERS WILL BE AN NBA POWERHOUSE within a decade. thats right. you read it here first(unless you didnt). Portlands frontoffice has done an outstanding job in each of the past two drafts.. They are stacked with youth and potential at every position. Their frontcourt(oden-aldridge with josh mcroberts and channing frye off the bench) is set for the next decade while Brandon Roy is more than capable of being a superstar PG or SG. And thats not even mentioning the talent on the bench; steve blake, rudy fernandez, Jarret Jack, Travis Outlaw and Sergio Rodriguez are all young, hungry and willing to compete. The only hole in their current lineup is a lack of a true starting SF, although if i know kevin pritchard(which i dont, by the way) they will have someone who matches that criteria by the time the first NBA ball of the season is thrown up...