The Spanish Connection is Broken: Sergio Rodriguez to be Traded to Knicks

The Portland Trail Blazers had an extraordinary season. They won 54 games, good for the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the playoffs, with superstar guard Brandon Roy, a budding All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, as well as an immensely talented supporting cast.

Unlike other playoff contenders, who build around veterans, the Blazers are comprised of youth. Roy, fresh off a 2009 campaign in which he averaged 22 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds a game, is only 24. Aldridge, quietly becoming one of the best power forwards in the league, is a year younger.

Scottie Pippen’s reincarnation, the lanky Frenchman Nicolas Batum, who started a majority of the games in his rookie season, is 20 years old. So is point guard Jerryd Bayless, who has evidently won the “Point guard of the future” contest with Sergio Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was a formidable backup point guard to veteran starter Steve Blake this past season. He struggled in stretches, but made a name for himself with his flashy alley-oop assists to fellow Spaniard Rudy Fernandez. This combination, the Spanish Armada, defined chemistry. They were magical, aware of each other at all times.

Time after time, Sergio, nonchalantly, lobbed a pass near the rim. Fernandez, on the baseline, would run, then leap, and in one swift motion, grab the ball, and dunk. It was remarkable, but it won’t happen again.

The Blazers have agreed to send Rodriguez to the New York Knicks, a trade that will be made on the night of the NBA Draft. It is not known, however, who Portland will acquire, or if this is just part of a larger deal. New York has the eighth pick in the draft, which certainly has caught Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard’s eye.

If Portland was to obtain that selection, they would have to send another relatively inexpensive player, as well as their 24th overall selection and possibly additional picks. Knowing Pritchard’s aggressiveness, this deal has to include the Knicks pick, considering Rodriguez is worth more more than anyone on their current roster.

It is difficult to see how this trade would work if it included more than just Rodriguez, some of the Blazers picks, and the Knicks early first-rounder. New York point guard Nate Robinson and power forward David Lee would be the likely candidates to fall in Portland’s lap, but they can’t be traded because of their impending free agency.

Yet, if a trade is finalized, and the Blazers acquire the eighth overall selection, Pritchard will certainly have a trick up his sleeve.

Who does he select? A plethora of point guards—Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans, Jeff Teague, Brandon Jennings, and Jrue Holiday—are expected to be on the table, but though some may be enticing, Flynn in particular, the reason Portland is trading Rodriguez is because they do not need three capable point guards.

Pritchard has to have someone in mind, however. I am hoping he’s thinking big instead of small, going after a strong power forward to backup Aldridge and spell centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla if needed.

Dejuan Blair would fit the bill, but he’s only 6′6″. Patrick Patterson would have filled the need, but he decided to pull out of the draft and return to the University of Kentucky.

This draft is very guard oriented, but they don’t need a guard. Twenty-two year old shooting guard Martell Webster, who missed the entire 2008-09 season with a broken foot, is certainly capable of providing the scoring they need.

He has the ability to shoot from the perimeter, as well as the explosiveness to drive to the rim. Since he’ll enter next season healthy, and with his youth, it is as if they are drafting a guard.

Portland has talent, but they have too much of it, which means, whether they want to or not, the expendable need to be traded. Despite his improvement with the Blazers, and his undeniable talent, Rodriguez is not part of their future plans. Bayless is, and has to prove that this was the right move.