Sports Editor
PORTLAND – My, how times change. Portland is roaring back into the fervor that made the Blazers the hardest ticket in town during the late ’70s and late ’80s and early ’90s, and it showed at the team’s official draft party at the arena.
An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 fans created a festive atmosphere in the Rose Garden in Portland – as full a crowd as for game nights when the team was the joke of the city and league just two years ago.
Nineteen-year-old Greg Oden – the 7-foot center from Ohio State with the size and talent to be a dominating center on both ends of the court – became the first pick of the 2007 NBA Draft Thursday afternoon, and those thousands of Trail Blazers fans exploded in elation. Trail Blazer fans young and old filed through the club level and lower bowl, played knockout on the arena’s floor, and were prepared to celebrate the team’s big night.
This would eventually be a night of many changes and trades, but at 4:38 p.m. in Portland, it was all about the big Buckeye.
The vast majority of fans were pulling for the team to draft Oden before the selection. A group of five high school seniors paraded the court with “ODEN!” painted on their chests.
That particular pro-Oden group – all seniors from Jesuit High School in Beaverton – claim to have been Portland fans through thick and thin, though clearly the promise of last season and the gilt-edged chance that the first pick presents makes it even sweeter. They feel that not only will Oden bring the team a fistful of championship rings, but that the pick is one of the single biggest sporting events in the state’s history.
When the team’s television broadcast announcers asked the gathered crowd in the bowl over the PA who their choice was, Oden received greater response – in line with the Blazers’ prior survey of their fan base through the team Web site in early June.
“It’s an exciting time for us just to know that I would have the opportunity to coach one of these young, talented players,” Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said on draft day. Of Oden, McMillan said, “This will be the guy that will be that foundation for this young team.”
Oden seems to be just as impressed with his new team as they are with him. “Just being around those guys, they’re all really great,” Oden said on the team’s Web site Thursday night. “They did have a bad rep, but I think Brandon and LaMarcus kind of turned that around. I’m hoping I can come in and just help push that along some more.”
Busy night for Blazers
Portland did not stop with its first pick. A trade has been proposed between the Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks that would send talented but troubled Portland forward Zach Randolph and guards Dan Dickau and Fred Jones in exchange for forward Channing Frye and guard Stephon Marbury. It has not been finalized as of press time.
The Blazers also have bought the rights to one of Phoenix’s first-round picks, Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez.
In the second round, Portland chose Duke big man Josh McRoberts with the 37th pick. McRoberts averaged almost 11 points per game in his sophomore season at Duke, and was one of only two players ever to be named a Blue Devils team captain as an underclassman.
Vanderbilt forward Derrick Byars was chosen by the Trail Blazers with the 42nd pick. Byars was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with cash in return for the Petteri Koponen, whom the Sixers took with the 30th and final pick of the first round. Koponen is a 6-foot-4 guard from Finland who is seen as a talented but young and inexperienced point guard prospect due not only to his age (21) but also because he has not proved himself in a big league.
With the 52nd and 53rd selections, the Blazers took point guard Taurean Green and forward Demetris Nichols. Green was the point guard who led Florida to back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles, and becomes the last of Florida’s famed junior class to be drafted. Fellow Gators Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah were all taken in the top nine selections (by the Hawks, Timberwolves, and Bulls respectively), the first time a school has ever dominated the top nine.
While Portland might face a logjam – adding eight players while removing only three can do that – the Blazers can keep rights to Koponen and Fernandez while they continue playing in Europe, and it is considered unlikely that Marbury will ever play in Portland’s white, red and black jerseys, assuming the deal moves forward. Regardless, Trail Blazer general manager Kevin Pritchard faces many personnel decisions this summer.
Brooks is a rocket man
Drawing back in to the Pacific-10 Conference, Aaron Brooks became the third player taken from the West Coast’s premiere conference when the Houston Rockets chose him with the 26th pick of the first round. First taken from the Pac-10, though, was Washington center Spencer Hawes. This was in line with pre-draft predictions; however, his destination was not, as he was taken by the Sacramento Kings with the 10th overall pick. USC guard Nick Young went 16th to the Washington Wizards and will likely match up in the backcourt with Gilbert Arenas, while UCLA’s Pac-10 Player of the Year, Arron Afflalo, became a Detroit Piston at the end of the first round.
Texas forward Kevin Durant, as had been suggested seemingly forever, went second to the Seattle Sonics. Portland was not the only team trading, though, as Seattle in turn traded away star guard Ray Allen and the 35th pick, Glen Davis from LSU, for the rights to the Boston Celtics’ fifth pick, Georgetown guard Jeff Green. Seattle also received guard Delonte West and forward Wally Szcerbiak in return from Boston in the deal.
Another big-name trade was announced later in the night, this one sending Brandan Wright, the eighth pick by Charlotte, to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for guard Jason Richardson and the Warriors’ 36th pick, Jermareo Davidson.
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