Dear Mr Allen,
At one point in the trailblazers were a relevant team in the NBA. We were alive and in the playoffs making dynamic moves in free agency and there was sense of urgency. This last year was embarrassing. We put half a team on the floor. I appreciate the past efforts on your part to give great care to the blazers sparing no expense. However, your interest in the NBA has deteriorated to a level that can no longer be tolerated. Please sell the team to a True Fan.

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Uh... how is it the owner's fault that the team is performing poorly when he is spending $300k over the salary cap? I'd look at other areas of the front office that are actually involved with winning games.

You couldnt possibly be more wrong. If anything Paul Allen is too much of a basketball fan. He sticks his nose in at times rather then just letting his people do the work as he does on the Seahawks side. They offered the center from Indiana (his name escapes me right now) a max deal, Indiana just happened to match it. That seems like a sense of urgency to me.

Not only that, but get rid of Paul Allen and we just might be the Sacramento Kings.

And when bashing Paul Allen keep in mind that our team should consist of Brandon Roy, Greg Oden and Lamarcus Aldridge right now. We should be fighting for Championships. I'm pretty sure Paul Allen isnt responsible for their injuries. Its just bad luck that we're not one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the league.

And lastly, if you thought this past season was an embarassment you had way too high expectations going into it. i expected us to be in contention for the 1st pick in the draft. Instead we found a future super star and the future looks bright. This was the most entertaining, and hopeful, season in the last 3 or 4 years for me.

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Its been awhile coming to this point with several very poor decisions that reflect a diminishing effort. This team appears to be going nowhere under the Vulcan regime. The staffing decisions are not representative of past efforts and frankly have become almost laughable in comparison.

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Neil Olshay is going to be a home run as a general manager. That was the absolute right hire.

Stotts was a decent hire, not very exciting but he had the team playing a fun style.

I'm curious what are the very poor decisions that you're talkign about? The only glaring mistake I see was drafting Luke Babbitt.

You sound like you listen to way too much John Canzano.

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Lol Jesus Christ, sell the team! They didn't make the playoffs in a very apparent rebuilding year in a ridiculously tough western conference.

I'm not seeing the logic

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3elieve

I am curious as to what rebuilding means?
What the Blazers used to do is retool.
What do think was exciting about the last two years? Nic Batums mega contract? Have you been a fan for as long as I have? You must be really excited about this years lotto pick. I just don't see this draft being very productive. This team is rudderless. Without major acquisitions this team won't make the playoffs and it would take 5 lotteries to rebuild. This team had a 50 win standard. That bench was equivalent to throwing in the towel and. tanking for several more years.

Oden should never have gotten the call. At the time we needed a three. Durant had a great workout. Greg looked bad. His game was bad. He already had an injury. That is the kind of mistake that gets you fired in this league Kevin Pritchard.

I don't read canzano. I am not in that market. or Kerry eggers. Did that new paper ever challenge the Oregonian?

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No i'm an admitted Sonics fanatic, and have always have hated the Blazers.

In this day and age, Portland is not going to land top FA's, its just not going to happen unless you got a superstar, even then it would be tough, remember Bosh saying he didn't want join LeBron in Cleveland, and they both went to Miami? Portland isn't even Cleveland.

They were on their way until the wheels fell off. How was Allen suppose to know that Roy's knees were gonna be done 5 years into his career? or that Greg Oden was going to have knee's made out of tissue paper by the age of 22 and barely ever play a game?

No one could've seen these things happen.

IMO Portland isnt that far off, you got a budding young star in Damian Lillard, and the only Blazer I've ever rooted for in LaMarcus Aldridge. You add another core piece to this team this offseason, you guys are back in the playoffs IMO, even with that weak ass bench.

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3elieve

I will be watching the Sonics if they do make it back with curiosity.

Will they make the right hires? Will this group be focused on turning the team around? Or will severe suckage be adequate?

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It can only go up from what they have now

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3elieve

Lilliard reminds me a bit of RW, You could see he is taking over as the leader and face of this team, he bought a house here in Portland and was quoted as saying he will be working at the facilities all summer long working on his game.

I also agree Olshey is getting this team back on track and I like Terry Stotts as the coach such a refreshing change from McMillan.

Re signing Batum was the right move (he is only 24) Myers Leonard showed flashes of developing into a pretty good player, we had to see what we had with the 2 euros Freeland and Claver (I think Claver was improving quite well over the course of the season) Will Barton was putting up 16 a night over the last 8 games, Elliott Williams is Portlands WTIII such amazing potential if he could ever stay healthy.

Lamarcus and Wes are under contract for a few more years, Hickson probably walks and probably should based on the money he will want. Kind of like the seahawks they found a pretty good player on the cheap and he produced quite well considering he was playing center most of the year. Maynor was also a solid find.

We will have some cap room this year (not sure how much) but I can't wait to see what moves we make this off season.

Yeah we lost 13 straight to end the year but most of our starters were not playing and 10 of those 13 games were playoff teams, which worked in our favor as we got the rooks extended playing time and found our way into the lottery (not that this is a good class)

I am quite optimistic for next year, we got this thing going the right way finally!

And don't kid yourself Seattle would have taken Oden had they had the 1st pick.

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http://personal-spectrum.com/

Portland has some solid players to build around, what they need is some great bench players. Aldridge is a all star and Lilliard is going to be a top 5 pg for years to come. It's tough to win games though when you only have 5 guys and then a bench of clowns.

That said its much easier to put together role players around all stars then it is to go find two or three all stars to go with a bunch of solid guys.

Oden was drafted over Durant because Bigs always go before guards or small forwards... ALWAYS!!!!

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"Go for Broke" - 442nd Japanese-American Battalion

Shaun Alexander #37 for the HoF - 119 Games 2176 Att 9429 Yards 4.3 YPC 100 TDs (112 TDs total) 2005 MVP

"YOU POST...TO WIN...thethread." JesterHawk

Portland's an average franchise. Expecting them to be a winner is like expecting Jacksonville to be a winner.

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Basketball is a lot more cyclical than most sports. on a long enough timeline, every team has a shot at being great for a while. Same as in football, every team has it's day in the sun. Except the Lions.

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Rzzzzz...

Cardinals, Bucks

But I agree, the NBA if you have the right people in place your team whether it be small market or big, can have a successful sustained run. San Antonio for example has been getting steals in the draft for YEARS, because they have the NBA equivalent to JS, OKC as long as they have Presti will probably have a pretty good team for a very long time (that stuff still pisses me off), that dude drafts BALLERS, that 2008 draft no one besides Presti was thinking Westbrook & Ibaka.

I don't know anything about your GM, but it seems like the fans like him, gotta give him more time than just ONE season.

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3elieve

Cards went to the SB with Warner at QB. They lost, but it's still a day in the sun.

Yeah, the Bucks....

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Rzzzzz...

No No and No.

Durant. All the way.

It was obvious. Oden was a mess. We were looking to run. Durant was perfect and tested and ready to go.

This bench is not good. Batum signing was not good. He is not consistent. More likely to be MIA. Has no fire.

Portland has signed quality FA's before. It used to be the norm. Now we are low on ammo and against the cap. Disappointing to have dropped so far off.

Settling for mediocrity........ now look what you have done Paul.

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this is a silly post. Durant was a one-and-done player in UT. He wasn't "Tested", the Big 12 was not great that year. Oden was the concensus #1, and probably all 30 GMs would have taken him in the same spot. Oden had prototypical size and skill for the 5, whereas Durant was still quite lean to be playing the 3/4 in the NBA. Also, Durant's game was at the time unrefined, and it's been his development in the Thunder franchise that has led him to be the player he is today. Carlesimo was not using him correctly and you saw that in his numbers his first couple of seasons. Once Brooks took over and moved him permanently to the 3, he exploded. Stop wasting everyone's time with tired "could-have-been" whining and accept that rotten luck is to blame for the Blazers last few years' mediocrity, and not bad ownership.

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Rzzzzz...

Oden wasn't even one and done. He was injured. I was simply answering someone else's reply about bad luck. However, you should have seen the difference in the workouts. it was laughable. Not my point. As far as I know those salaries are off the books and Roys specifically had an out. So none of the past has to do with right now.

My point is that this team is going nowhere let alone the playoffs for five years because Allen's commitment level has definitely changed. Many free agents have been willing to come to Portland because the commitment was there. Go look at the history. 50 plus wins because of mid level free agents, draft picks and premier coaching hires. Adelman, Dunleavy, McMillen and even Carlesimo. Stotts would have been a low level assistant at best.

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