Wallace trade only solution for Blazers
01/16/04
P ause. Breathe deeply. And consider the possibility that maybe all of this pain was necessary.
The Trail Blazers' 16-21 start.
The sinking Rose Garden attendance.
Even Portland's lifeless 105-96 loss on Thursday, at home, to last-place Phoenix.
All of it needed in order to get change.
Here's hoping the sad combination of events is finally going to make Blazers owner Paul Allen pick up the phone and say the three simple words that can save his franchise.
Pull the trigger.
If he hasn't already, Allen needs to call his general manager John Nash and say those three words.
A trade of Rasheed Wallace to Dallas in exchange for Antawn Jamison and $7-million-a-season Tariq Abdul-Wahad. That's the latest rumor circulating outside the secret meetings at One Center Court.
Allen left the Rose Garden, acknowledging that he and a host of front-office players spent a good part of the third quarter tucked away in a back room talking trade.
"Or not to trade," said Allen.
Pull the trigger, boss.
A ghost of a crowd, around 9,000, witnessed the latest Blazers' loss. Many of those left at the end of the third quarter, so by the time Suns forward Amare Stoudemire made a fourth-quarter basket and put a finger over his lips in a "hush" motion, it really wasn't needed.
The place was already Portland Public Library North.
This is the House that 'Sheed built, of course.
The empty seats. The boos in the air. The excuses, even after giving home fans about 40 cents on their entertainment dollar.
Yes, that was Wallace, somewhere near his favorite loading dock, declining to answer a legitimate question about whether he cares if he's a Trail Blazer or Maverick by sundown today.
You can't quote a shrug, can you?
Pull the trigger.
Those are the words Allen needs to say if anyone is going to move forward. Maybe he said them in that private meeting, while his team was falling all over itself on the court. Maybe he needs to see more, but really, does anyone need more of this?
Allen needs to start acting like The Boss.
Steinbrenner, not Springsteen.
Nash says Allen has veto power over any and all trades. Speculation is that Allen has been the party that has held up some of the deals for Wallace. Today, if we're going to get anywhere fast, that needs to change.
Of course, ownership still might believe this team can pull itself out of this tailspin. And also, it could believe that a better offer for Wallace will come closer to the Feb. 19 trade deadline.
T hat's fools gold, really.
The Blazers are playing as if they all realize this roster is going to get a makeover. And, if Portland is going to make the playoffs, waiting until the eve of the deadline when the postseason ditch is too big to climb out of, probably isn't the way to do it.
Allen doesn't have that kind of time.
Pull the trigger.
Jamison would be spectacular playing alongside Zach Randolph. He's a warrior. And a character guy. If this is really the trade on the table, taking Abdul-Wahad and his cumbersome four-year, $28 million contract is probably what's causing the Blazers to think twice.
You'd have to be crazy to take on that kind of contract when you're cutting salary, right?
Sorry. Slap me. Throw me in a room with rubber walls. But pull the trigger.
Maybe all of this pain was necessary. This feels like a rock-bottom moment for the franchise. The fans who chose to stay at home or spend their money on a movie and a bucket of popcorn must have seen it coming.
There is only one way out of this mess.
John Canzano: 503-294-5065;
JohnCanzano@aol.com