Portland Trail Blazers Stand Pat at Trade Deadline

The NBA trade deadline has passed. Basketball junkies across the nation have grown accustomed to blockbuster deals made by Kevin Pritchard taking place on such days as the trading deadline and the NBA Draft.

This year however, Trail Blazer fans were pleasantly surprised, as Kevin Pritchard stood pat, and took his finger off the trigger for once.

He must have gotten his fill from the three team deal between the Blazers, Kings, and Bulls, which sent Ike Diogu to the Kings for Michael Ruffin.

Now, why did Portland's "Golden Boy" only make one seeemingly insignificant trade? The Diogu deal served only one purpose, to clear cap room, as Ruffin's salary is less than half of Diogu's. Throw in a trade exception and you've got yourself a good financial deal.

Portland holds what was said to be the most valuable asset at the trade deadline: the expiring contract of Raef LaFrentz. Due to a season-ending shoulder surgery, LaFrentz's insurance kicked in to pay his contract. To make things simple, whatever team held his contract was slated to earn over $100K per game for the rest of the season.

Portland could have dealed this "golden ticket" and a few of their "deadwood" players for a veteran leader to bolster the team's chances for the playoffs.

Instead, Portland stood pat, and kept the money. Why did they do this? Two words: Darius Miles.

When John Nash was the GM of the Portland Trail Blazers, he decided to grant Darius Miles a gigantic contract extension, due to his career season. Miles then was forced to undergo micro-fracture knee surgery.

An independent doctor told the Blazers and Miles that his injury was career-ending, so Portland waived him.

Miles refused to accept that his career was over, most likely because he wanted more money, and due to three 10-day contracts, one with the Boston Celtics, and two with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Blazers were put on the hook for the rest of his salary.

Portland was going to use the money they were saving on Miles' contract to go after a big-time free agent in the off-season. Had Miles not played 10 games, and his insurance forced to pay for his contract, Portland would most likely have let LaFrentz's deal slip away.

Now the Blazers have been forced to keep his deal, in order to generate income for the upcoming free agency.

Who are Portland's free agents heading into the off-season? We already mentioned LaFrentz, but Channing Frye, Shavlik Randolph, and Michael Ruffin are also on the list. Add in the trade exception that the Blazers received from the Diogu/Ruffin deal, and the Blazers have close to $20 million to spend in the free agent market, if of course the Blazers do not re-sign any of these players.

While this is not as much money as the Blazers would have had had Miles not played 10 games, it is still a substantial amount of money that the Blazers can use to sign some greatly-needed free agents.

While this is great for Portland, the Blazers should have at least found a way to get rid of some of the "deadwood" players who do not have expiring contracts.

Who am I referring to? Sergio Rodriguez, and Travis Outlaw. Don't get me wrong, I think that both players are very high-character individuals, but they have both shown that they cannot play consistent basketball. When you want to reach the postseason, and create some fire, you need to play consistent basketball.

Jerryd Bayless is the point guard of the future for Portland. Nicholas Batum is the small forward of the future. The fact that Bayless would be backing up Steve Blake forms a very good one-two punch at the point, but aside from Batum, there really is no other small forward on this team besides Outlaw, who has played many minutes at power forward this season.

Solution? The Blazers need to trade both Travis Outlaw and Sergio Rodriguez in the off-season. Both players are young and extremely raw with great potential, a gigantic plus to any team.

The Blazers also need to sign or trade for a veteran backup power forward, and sign or trade for another small forward. Portland is stocked with draft picks, and it is not too farfetch'd to think that Kevin Pritchard could combine Sergio, Travis, and some draft picks to deal in a couple great players. We've seen him work his magic before.

So, now that the trading deadline has passed, the Blazers need to think ahead to the off-season. The most glaring needs right now are at backup power forward, and starting/backup small forward.

Now that Nate McMillan has said he will stick with a nine-player rotation, the Blazers need to start thinking of ways to trade some unneeded players and draft picks, so that once the off-season starts, they can instantly make a splash.