Good and Bad for the Blazers

With the Blazers it always seems like a good news/bad news situation. Or just a bad news situation. Right now it is the former. On the good side of the ledger is the fact that Brandon Roy is an absolute stud and gets better seemingly every night. On the bad side is the recent news that Lamarcus Aldridge might have a heart condition. Two awesome rookies mined from the same weak draft class - one piece of good news, one piece of bad.

The same is true of the upcoming NBA Draft. Currently projected to land the 7th pick, Portland had some great news in the fact that Corey Brewer is an absolutely perfect fit for their current roster. Then they got some bad news when Brewer decided to make the Final Four his personal coming out party. Now there is a real chance that Brewer could go somewhere between picks 3-and-6 and leave the Blazers holding the bag. And while there are certainly consolation prizes to be had in such a deep draft, there isn't another player after Oden/Durant that could help Portland with what seems to be an inevitable run at the playoffs next year as much as Brewer. If Aldridge is healthy and allowed to bloom next to Randolph, and if Roy continues to evolve, Portland will be a sleeper in the West. However, they are still one piece away - a swingman who can defend, attack off the dribble, and hit outside shots. In other words, Corey Brewer. Guys like Brandan Wright, Al Horford, and Yi Jianlian are all potential stars, but they would be buried behind the Blazers' front court depth.

Perhaps if Jeff Green declares for the draft, that news would push things back over to the good news side of the ledger, as Portland coujld be relatively confident that either Green or Brewer would make it to them at #7.

Of course, they will have to get my non-tanking, hard-nose favorite player Brandon Roy to stop carrying them to victory, lest they fall any further down the draft lottery.