Stoudamire wondering if Blazers will strike

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/109239863912670.xml

The veteran guard and team captain expects and hopes Portland will address its needs with a "big whammy" of a deal
Friday, August 13, 2004
JASON QUICK
His hobby has shifted from collecting cars to amassing property, but Damon Stoudamire's passion and livelihood remain with the Trail Blazers.


So the Blazers' point guard and captain is a little uneasy watching the Blazers remain mostly stagnant this offseason while seemingly the rest of the Western Conference has improved.

"I'm sitting back from afar, I guess just like everybody else, and waiting for a big whammy," Stoudamire said this week in a wide-ranging interview from his annual basketball camp, this year at Portland State University.

"But I ain't got that whammy yet," Stoudamire said.

And that "whammy" doesn't appear to be on the horizon. With needs at backup center and shooting guard, the Blazers are entertaining the idea of signing an unproven center in 24-year-old Joel Przybilla (2.9 points, 6.5 rebounds last season) and have settled on keeping Richie Frahm as their backup shooting guard.

Meanwhile, controversy abounds at forward. Shareef Abdur-Rahim has threatened to sit out training camp unless he is traded. Restricted free agent Darius Miles has balked at what he considers an insulting offer. Reserve forward Ruben Patterson again has begged for a trade.

The way Stoudamire sees it, the Blazers are a competitive team now, but he is curious which direction the Blazers front office will take in the seven weeks until training camp. The Blazers can either trade Abdur-Rahim and try to upgrade their roster, or rely on the current roster, which features five expiring contracts.

"Man, I'm nervous, but not like a bad nervous," Stoudamire said. "It seems like everything right now is at a crossroads. And this to me is a make-or-break year, because last year people didn't come to the games and we didn't go to the playoffs.

"I think we have a competitive team, but the next couple of months will tell whether we are going to make moves and really try and do something this year, or whether we are rebuilding and trying to get cap space."

Those next two months also will go a long way in determining whether Stoudamire returns to the Blazers after this season. The Future

This season is Stoudamire's last in a seven-year, $81 million contract. He has his cars, his homes in West Linn and Houston, but he doesn't have the experience of reaching the NBA Finals.

If the Blazers choose to not re-sign Theo Ratliff, Zach Randolph and Nick Van Exel, then Stoudamire said he will look long and hard at free agency next summer.

"I've made pretty good money, and more or less, I want a chance to win," Stoudamire said. "I can't be part of any rebuilding process. I don't want to be a part of a team that gets rid of four or five guys and brings in four or five young guys. I don't want to go through too many more of those years I went through last season."

He is, in typical Stoudamire fashion, torn by his emotions.

On one hand, he is entwined in the culture in Northeast Portland, where he was raised. He holds his free basketball camps every year, and he helped keep Portland Interscholastic League athletics afloat with a $250,000 donation. He is on a first-name basis with several of the mothers and kids at the camp.

But he also thinks about his close friend Rasheed Wallace, who won an NBA championship with Detroit after the Blazers traded him in February.

"I looked at what happened to Rasheed, and I'm happy for him, but it also makes me jealous," Stoudamire said. "He was able to get in the situation he wanted. But at the same time, there are people who love the fact they can become a free agent and go out there and explore, but I'm a firm believer that sometimes the grass ain't always greener on the other side. So for me to sit here and say, 'I'm not going to come back to Portland' . . . that ain't true." The Present

Stoudamire said three things will show him the Blazers are serious about contending this year: signing a backup center, getting a shooter and signing Miles.

"We need a shooter, but if we get a shooter, you have to move somebody, because then we will have logjams, and somebody is going to be unhappy," Stoudamire said.

The Blazers' initial offer to Miles includes a first year that is less than the $5.4 million qualifying offer the Blazers had to make to keep him a restricted free agent.

"I don't know what they are doing to D. Miles," Stoudamire said, shaking his head. "Darius is our energy guy. When I look at Darius, I see a guy who finally found a situation he was comfortable in, that he could thrive in. Once he felt comfortable, he started to stand out.

"I don't know the situation, but it would be a shame if he didn't come back. He was starting to find himself as a player. I just hope he's not taking any of this personally, which is hard because everyone has feelings, but this is a business. But I have found that Darius is mature beyond his years, and he will understand that."

As for Abdur-Rahim, one of his longtime friends, Stoudamire has mixed feelings. He loves Abdur-Rahim as a person and player. But he understands that Abdur-Rahim is too good to play behind Randolph and not suited to play small forward, which is where Abdur-Rahim says Blazers management has told him he will play.

"If there is something out there for Shareef, you should trade him," Stoudamire said. "The only reason I say that is they are doing Shareef an injustice by not allowing him to play his natural position, which is power forward. He will play small forward, if that's what you ask him to do, but I have found that if the environment is not good for that person, then you are never able to maximize that potential."

As for the Blazers' potential?

"On paper, we are 10th or 11th (in the West)," Stoudamire said. "But a lot of times the things on paper have been wrong. The thing with us, with whatever happens or doesn't happen, I think that the guys need to come in with a chip on their shoulders. We have to work hard and mold together. If you are here, you have to make the most of it, you can't sit up here and complain about stuff you don't have control over. If you are going to do that, you are just going to be a detriment. We don't need that, because we don't have much margin for error."

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


>>>>>> Does anyone know how much they offered to miles ?



[Edited by - raven on 08/13/2004 09:52:06]

martin - andrew, please I messed up with the title. Could you please fix that ?

Thx.

Ratliff would be an awesome addition. I just wrote about that on another forum actually. Any chance they'd do a trade now if we gave them Nazy and took back Patterson's or Anderson's bad contracts? Obviously we'd have to include more players for it to work under the cap, though.

With SAR demanding to be moved i'm sure we can make a legit offer for him and Patterson. We still have Thomas, Mohammed, Houston, T Thomas and some other fillers we could use as offers. SAR's a talent and an all-star so i would love to put him at the 3 or 4. Also, Patterson's a trouble player but is one of the better perimeter defenders in the league and at this point i'm sure Portland is ready to give him away.