Portland Trail Blazers: Fans' 5 Biggest Fears for the Team's Rebuilding Process

The Portland Trail Blazers' 2011-12 season lands somewhere past bizarre and just short of unfathomable.

Fans know how things panned out: A hot start created sky-high expectations, followed by a disastrous collapse that left fans in the lowest depths of despair.

Before the miserable season concluded, however, bright-eyed anticipation erased all the anguish. Two lottery picks and a whole lot of cap space have Portland fans eagerly awaiting a feeding frenzy this offseason.

While optimism glows over the Rose Garden, this offseason could plunge Portland further into the Western Conference's cellar.

These five things could disable the Trail Blazers' rebuilding efforts.

LaMarcus Aldridge’s Hips

Surgery on his right hip cost LaMarcus Aldridge the last couple weeks of the season and a shot at becoming only the third Portland Trail Blazer to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. (Clyde Drexler in 1992 and Steve Smith in 2000 were the other two.)

While at the University of Texas, Aldridge had his left hip operated on.

This most recent operation is said to be a minor, proactive surgery, but if Aldridge's hips prove degenerative—much like Brandon Roy and Greg Oden's knees—the third of Portland's three projected franchise pillars will be cut down in his prime.

Taking a Center in the 1st Round of the NBA Draft

Portland has picked a handful of centers early in drafts who instantly created a buzz throughout the city—but they haven't panned out.

There have been the infamous injuries of Greg Oden, Sam Bowie and Bill Walton. These guys were picked Nos. 1,  2 and 1 overall, respectively.

While Walton brought Portland its only title, fans may forget he only spent parts of four seasons with the Blazers. He never played a complete season.

Oden and Bowie will always be linked because of the players selected immediately after them: Kevin Durant and Michael Jordan.

Then there are guys who were drafted by Portland, but played out their primes elsewhere.

This is includes Jermaine O'Neal, who rarely got off the bench in four seasons with the Blazers, but became a star with the Pacers.

Or this includes Arvydas Sabonis, whom the Blazers picked in the first round in 1986. He made his Portland debut in 1995 on bum knees at age 31.

So, as tempting as it may be to pick Jared Sullinger or Andre Drummond, history says that move won't pan out for Portland.

Greg Oden Gets Healthy

This year finally saw Portland sever ties with oft-injured former No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden.

Oden played 82 games in five seasons while undergoing seemingly as many knee operations.

Now, Oden will be free to sign elsewhere this offseason.

In the 82 games he played, Oden showed signs of why he was so coveted coming out of Ohio State University. He has the physical ability to take over a game at any moment.

Nothing would sting Portland fans more than to see a healthy Oden become a dominant big man elsewhere. That is, unless he did so with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hire a 'Yes Man' as GM

Portland has had an interesting history of general managers under Paul Allen's watch.

The first GM Allen brought in was his buddy from the Seattle Seahawks, Bob Whitsitt. Whitsitt played the cards he was dealt by Allen, and he made it work for awhile. The team reached the Western Conference finals in 1999 and again in 2000.

But among the Whitsitt lowlights was letting stars Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey, Cliff Robinson, Buck Williams, Terry Porter, Jermaine O'Neal and others leave. To replace them, he brought in lower-character players with off-the-court issues.

Whitsitt left on his own accord in 2003, and the GM position has seen instability ever since.

In fact, Whitsitt was Allen's last "Yes Man" to hold the job.

Since then, a number of free thinkers have taken on the challenge, only to be showed mysterious exits.

Kevin Pritchard spent six years at the helm. During his stint, he returned the team to relevance, largely through his draft-day deals to land LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy.

But he was fired because Allen seemingly stopped liking him.

After only a year on the job, Rich Cho was fired for much the same reason.

However, these two general managers had the team going in the right direction. Allen needs to put someone in place to make basketball decisions, not to be his personal puppet.

Raymond Felton Re-Signs

Portland is well-known throughout the league for its smart and loyal fans. Blazers fans sell out the Rose Garden nightly, wildly cheering on their players through wins and losses.

Not often do those fans boo Trail Blazers players.

But Raymond Felton drew the scorn of fans all across Rip City as he turned late-game turnovers into a habit.

Felton seemed indifferent toward winning and losing this season in Portland. Judging by outward appearances, losses seemed to hurt the fans 10 times as much as they affected Felton.

He just did not care.

And for a fanbase that cares so deeply about its only major professional sports team, that is unacceptable.