Real GM:Portland Tribune - The New York Post wrote last week that the Trail Blazers would be willing to send Theo Ratliff to the New York Knicks for rookie David Lee and a veteran, either Penny Hardaway or Antonio Davis. Or trade Ratliff and Ruben Patterson for Hardaway or Davis in order to get under the salary cap this summer to re-sign Joel Przybilla.
That’s a lot of fiction, as is so much stuff that comes out of the media these days. Davis is out of the equation, traded to Toronto, but he wasn’t going to be a Blazer. Portland remains in rebuilding mode, with coach Nate McMillan getting a thorough look at all of his players, and the chances for a deal before the Feb. 23 trade deadline are slim.
“I don’t expect to make a deal at this point,” Portland General Manager John Nash says. “We’re not satisfied with our record (17-29), but the anticipation was that we would develop players at the expense of the record this year.”
Portland’s payroll is at about $60 million, well above the salary cap of $49.5 million. Were the Blazers to trade for the broken-down Hardaway in order to drop his $15.75 annual salary from their payroll this summer, it would get them beneath the salary cap. But with expected signings of draft picks and perhaps a free agent, there wouldn’t be room to throw more money Przybilla’s way.
McMillan is extremely happy with his center pair of Przybilla and Ratliff — “best in the league,” the coach says — and it is unlikely Nash would give away something of value (Ratliff) for nothing as the Blazers move from rebuilding to constructing for a future playoff run
