NBA Free Agency: 5 Moves That Make the Portland Trail Blazers Contenders

The crazy 2011 free agency period is set to kick off December 9th.

The Portland Trail Blazers, a team at a crossroads between becoming contenders or permanent also-rans, will have to get creative to improve the team. Being over the cap (and tax for now) without a general manager makes the situation complicated.

Fortunately, they do have a lot of talent and with a few moves, could be surprise contenders in the West.

1. Sign-and-Trade for Nene

Nene is obviously one of the top, if not THE top, free agent in his class.

Yahoo! reports that Nene is being pursued by cap-space teams Houston, Golden State, Indiana, New Jersey, the Clippers, last year's Finals contenders the Heat and the Mavericks and...The Portland Trail Blazers.

Of course, the Nuggets would probably like to keep him around as well.

With all the interest generated by Nene, landing in Portland would seem a longshot. Don't dismiss it out of hand though.

If Denver expects to lose Nene, as many expect them to, they would assuredly like to get something out of it. Dallas or Miami have little to offer in a sign-and-trade.

Portland could throw Marcus Camby (an expiring contract), F Luke Babbit, C Chris Johnson, two second-round draft picks and the rights to F Joel Freeland in exchange.

Denver gets a temporary replacement at center in Camby, who is still popular in Denver, two young players in Babbit and Johnson, the rights to Freeland, who has shown a lot of potential in EuroLeague and the chance to add more in the draft.

Portland gets a top-10 center in his prime. Nene would be a good compliment to LaMarcus Aldridge inside and would fill their biggest hole.

2. Amnesty Brandon Roy

I love Brandon Roy.

Two of my best basketball memories will always be his Game 4 performance last year and his game-winner against the Rockets.

In reality, I think the Blazers' best bet would probably be to wait and see what he can do this year, at least in training camp, before making a decision.

Unfortunately, that would make it very hard for them to fill out their roster. They are already over the tax, before signing any of their own or other free agents.

This keeps them from using the whole mid-level exception, and also puts counts against the "repeater" tax.

This should not be taken as an endorsement for amnestying Roy, but in these circumstances that may be the difficult-but-correct decision.

3. Sign Jamal Crawford

Crawford is another player that has been linked to Portland along with Nene, Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes and others.

Aldridge has tried to recruit him and Crawford has expressed interest in playing for Portland.

It may be too hard to resist bigger offers if he gets them. But with relatively few teams with significant cap-space and most of those pursuing big-men, Crawford signing for the mid-level isn't out of the question.

With other teams like Miami, New York, Dallas, etc. unlikely, for different reasons, to sign him, Portland may be an attractive option. Crawford's roots are in Seattle, close to Portland. They are a potential contender that has a ready role for him.

This is where the Roy amnesty comes in, allowing Portland to offer Crawford the full mid-level, though it is somewhat of a catch-22 as Crawford and Roy are close.

Besides big men, shooting/scoring from the back court is Portland's biggest need. Crawford would fit like a glove for them. He could come off the bench to play 30 minutes or so per-game, and would probably be the second leading scorer.

4. Re-Sign Greg Oden

I will go on record saying this year or next year, Oden will make a breakthrough.

Despite his injury history, the Blazers need to re-sign the big guy. Unless a huge offer comes from another team, which I don't expect, Portland should match anything.

Oden may just accept his qualifying offer and test free agency again next year.

Either way, Portland can't afford to see Oden become a productive player on another team.

With Nene and a healthy Oden on board, Portland could turn a weakness in to a strength.

5. Fill out the Roster with Minimum-Scale Veterans

The last step would be filling out the few remaining roster spots with veteran players.

Joel Przybilla, a former Blazer, would be a good fit. He could play spot minutes at center, especially while waiting for Oden to return.

A backup power forward would also be needed, with Leon Powe or Chris Wilcox potentially being good fits.

Outlook

With a starting lineup of Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews, Gerald Wallace, Aldridge and Nene, a bench of Crawford, Nic Batum, and complementary pieces, Portland would once again be a contender in the Western Conference.

Would a lot of things have to go right for Portland for this to happen? Yes. Is it possible? Perhaps it is.