Are the Portland TrailBlazers Shopping Both Raymond Felton and Nicolas Batum?

The Portland TrailBlazers have been a streaky team so far this season although they are hoping to become more assertive in order to qualify for the postseason in a relatively wide open Western Conference.

Led by strong play from LaMarcus Aldridge (who was selected as an All-Star reserve this year) and the consistent play from Wesley Matthews, the TrailBlazers are looking to make up for some recent fourth-quarter collapses that resulted in continuous losses suffered at home.

Head coach Nate McMillan has been doing some experimenting this season due in part to injuries (i.e. Greg Oden) with his backcourt to see what pairings work better playing together. He has Jamal Crawford, Wesley Matthews, Raymond Felton and Nicolas Batum to use as his rotation.

One area that has been an issue recently has been who head coach Nate McMillan should be starting at point guard. Should he be starting Raymond Felton (who has struggled) or should he go with Jamal Crawford who is more of a shooting guard than a true point guard?

Felton was acquired from the Denver Nuggets on draft night in exchange for veteran Andre Miller. Felton wants to remain as the starter and if he and McMillan continue to not see eye-to-eye, will the team look to move him? Felton is in the final year of his contract and he is a great guard that could be much more effective in a system that is not of run-and-gun style.

Batum (averaging a career-high 12.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season) is also another player that the TrailBlazers may find hard to re-sign especially after his agent was not able to reach an extension before the deadline earlier this season, causing frustration more than anything else.

The Portland TrailBlazers want to be a team that runs more and they have the youth to do that. However, are they looking to bring in somebody that can lead the run-and-gun type of offense?