The Blazers

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The Blazers' goals, Nash argues, have been clearly defined to the fans, the players and the varying divisions of the front office: build a young team with potential to win in the future that is rich on character yet affordable to owner Paul Allen.

"Paul made all of this clear at the draft, that he is no longer willing to pay the price that veteran players command in order to sneak into the playoffs and get bounced in the first round," Nash said. "You know, you take the core players of last year, and we were on pace to win about 30 games. It's crazy to do that and spend $85 million on payroll."

Nash and McMillan are both flummoxed that so much is being made out of the Blazers' preseason struggles, which include a 1-4 record, 34.9 percent shooting, and poor execution that is leading to 17.4 turnovers and opponents' 47.2 percent shooting.

"This doesn't come as a surprise to me," Nash said. "I've tried to prepare people for it, recognizing that what happened at the tail end of last season is byproduct of making a decision to go with young players."

The question in the back of McMillan's mind -- and on the tip of Patterson and Randolph's tongue -- is whether repeated routs can become a hindrance to the growth of the youngsters.

The Blazers have hinted this preseason that they will eventually look to trade in an effort to alleviate an unbalanced roster that features five small forwards and one power forward, but that move won't be made until McMillan is comfortable that he understands his personnel. "It may be mid-November where we say 'Look . . . OK, we've seen enough, let's go a different route,' " McMillan said. "But right now, as an organization, we have decided the young guys will play, as tough as it may be for us to see sometimes."

In the meantime, Nash and McMillan are constantly evaluating, always with an eye on the future. Nash said they agree that the best course for now is to monitor the progress of players, "and if along the way we weed a player out, so be it."

"But it certainly is not the time to press the panic button," Nash said.

Jason Quick: 503-221-4372; jasonquick@news.oregonian.com

I see Zeke going after Zach, Ratliff or Patterson only !!

oh yea i forgot about him

where are we going to play them???? as long as we wont have to trade any of our youngins, it will be ok....

We would have to trade one of our Centers, + Rose or Mo

randolph and outlaw qualify as youngsters and wont be traded.

other than that, i dont want anyone from the blazer team.

Think Mac wants BIg Game back?

Portland is rebuilding.

Paul allan has no copetition in his city for a major professonal team. He has time to blow it up and add rookies.