Three Guys in a Basement

So the regular season wrapped up with the Blazers tied for the 2nd best record in the Western Conference, but they’ll have the 4th seed and match up against the Houston Rockets.  This post is not supposed to say that the Blazers are going to have an exceptional post-season, as I don’t really think they will.  In fact, I think there’s  a really good chance that Houston will beat the Blazers in the first round.

But this team is the 2nd youngest in the NBA, with an average age of 25 years old.  The #1 draft pick, Greg Oden, isn’t even good enough to start.  Right now, I’m watching the end of the Nuggets-Blazers game, where not a single Blazer starter is in double figures scoring, but the Blazers are winning by 30 over the Western Conference 2nd-seed.

This is a team that most observers know will be the future of the Western Conference if genius GM Kevin Pritchard is able to keep the team together.  Kobe’s getting older, the Spurs are getting older, and the Suns’ time as a contender is up, freeing up the picture for the Blazers to dominate.  Right now,

Brandon Roy is the only all-star, but he’s a stone cold closer at the end of games, and an ultimate team leader.  3rd year player LaMarcus Aldridge is going to be a superstar.  Right now, in the Blazers’ 10-man playing rotation, 3 are rookies and the opening day starting shooting guard has played a total of 5 minutes this season.  The potential for this team is scary, and even now, ESPN’s Hollinger’s power rankings have them as the 4th best team in the NBA.

Not to mention the $7 million in extra cap space that the Blazers will have this off-season to improve even more.

*Except for LeBron James.  That man is afraid of nothing.  The next 5-10 years will be a lot of fun to see a lot of Blazers-Cavaliers NBA Finals match-ups.

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