There’s one word in sports that every team tries to avoid. Every fan dreads hearing. Every organization avoids like the plague.
Rebuilding.
Nobody likes to admit that their team isn’t ready to compete, but every organization runs into a time where it must have a heart-to-heart with itself and decide if it is ready to win now, or move into a phase of restructuring a roster that just can’t contend.
It’s time for the Trail Blazers to have that heart-to-heart.
In a league where compiling superstars is the new way to win now, teams such as the Heat, Knicks and Clippers are the groups that are primed to make a playoff push.
The Blazers, however, have been following the opposite trend.
Since last season, the Blazers have traded away Rudy Fernandez and lost Brandon Roy and Greg Oden to injuries. Just a few seasons ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder was openly following the mold of the Trail Blazers. Acquiring young talent and growing organically through the draft, the Blazers were projected to become a powerhouse in the west, and start competing for championships in no time at all.
The tides have turned, however, as the Thunder will begin competing for western conference superiority, and the Trail Blazers are once again trying to figure out which direction to take its roster.
Blame injury troubles if you want, but the fact remains that the Blazers are not where everybody expected them to be heading into the 2011-12 season.
The Blazers made a step last week toward joining the group of desirable free agent destinations when guard Jamal Crawford chose the Trail Blazers over his other finalists, the Knicks and the Kings.
Crawford will provide clutch shooting, free throws and an outside game – all things that Rudy Fernandez was supposed to bring over from Spain, and a version of what was once provided by Roy.
But the big question remains, are the Blazers ready to contend this season?
As the organization sits down and maps out the direction this team is going to go, the first step is deciding who is going to be a part of the team long term.
Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge are the only players signed long term at this point, so if the team decides it’s ready to compete as-is, it’s time begin locking up players for the future. Batum is reportedly ready to begin contract negotiations in January, and Raymond Felton will have the opportunity to commit to the team following his first year in Portland. If you think you have a chance at grooming Oden to fill a role in the middle, try and convince him to stay – although that won’t be an easy task.
If the team makes the decision that this roster is not ready to compete for a championship, think about the age of the once youthful Trail Blazers, and find where rebuilding becomes a necessity.
Assuming Batum gets his money, that means the team still only has three pieces it is committed to. If Oden, Crawford, Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby are all relieved of their Trail Blazers duties in the next two seasons, the Trail Blazers opens up enough cap space to go out and turn the old mold roadmap into the new-age plan of success in the NBA.
Without the question marks of Roy’s health, a more consistent backup shooting guard in Crawford and the continued growth of Aldridge, this team may be better than last year’s team, which failed to reach 50 wins for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
But if it turns out it’s not, and the team fails once again to taste the second round of the playoffs, look for the Trail Blazers to enter a stage of transition, and look for a rebuilding team to ultimately find a new identity in the coming seasons.
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