The Portland Trail Blazers, Your 2011-12 NBA Champions

). When Oden returns to join Aldridge in the front court, the Trailblazers will be adding a young Patrick Ewing to a young Pau Gasol.

Everyone already knows about the impact Oden will bring to the team, but another signing may also prove to be a critical piece of the puzzle. Earlier this month, Rudy Fernandez announced he would leave his Spanish ACB League team to join the Trailblazers, which acquired him by buying his draft rights from Phoenix for straight cash (much like how the championship Celtics bought the drafts rights to their starting PG Rajon Rondo from Phoenix -- good work, Phoenix!).

The Spanish ACB League is widely considered to be the second best basketball league in the world (right behind the And1 Streetball Tour of course) and Rudy Fernandez is arguably the best player in the ACB league, if not all of Europe itself. This league’s alumni include NBA pros such as Arvydas Sabonis, Pau Gasol, Andres Nocioni, and Luis Scola.

The talented and hairy Rudy Fernandez.

Last season, Fernandez led the ACB in points with 21.2 and steals with 2.2 while also dropping in 4.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 28 min a game for second-place DKV Joventut Badalona.

Imagine a player of that caliber joining Portland. They can play a back court of Fernandez and Roy, two 6’6” combo guards who both can dribble, pass, and score.

Or picture "Spanish Chocolate" running the break with the two of them on the wings. Or Fernandez coming off the bench behind Roy, and the Trailblazers not missing a beat on offense like they did last year when a reliable but one-dimensional shooter like Martell Webster or James Jones took over. Then consider that Rudy Fernandez doesn’t even break the Trailblazer’s league-low average age at 23 years old.

So Lakers fans, don’t worry. With all due respect to the Boston Celtics, Utah Jazz, New Orleans Hornets, and San Antonio Geriatrics, the championship is yours to lose next year. And the year after that. And probably the year after that. But, at some point, that young team in the upper Northwest is going to grow up, and you’re going to be the one getting your lunch money taken away.

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