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Coach Maurice Cheeks gives the struggling Blazers the day off as teams show a renewed interest in working a swap with Portland

01/17/04

JASON QUICK

A whirlwind 24 hours of confusion, uncertainty and secrecy have passed with the Trail Blazers, during which a lot of action has resulted in little to no results.

After an eventful Thursday that included general manager John Nash and coach Maurice Cheeks meeting with Rasheed Wallace, and a closed-door meeting during that night's game among owner Paul Allen, president Steve Patterson and Nash, Friday appeared to mark the makings of a shakeup to a team that has lost seven of eight.

But the plot only thickened Friday afternoon when Nash said a trade is not in the foreseeable future, perhaps a result of what Nash called a renewed interest by teams who are contacting the Blazers about previously rejected offers.

"We have made our position clear to several teams, and now teams are suggesting that they would do things that they wouldn't have done previously," Nash said. "Things change."

Meanwhile, as a moody and downtrodden Blazers team gathered in Tualatin for an 11 a.m. practice, Cheeks abruptly canceled the workout. The Blazers players, many of whom have complained that trade speculation is affecting their play, were sent home by Cheeks to "clear their minds" after the coach held a short meeting.

"I wanted to release their minds a bit, have them step away from it all," Cheeks said. "It's a delicate situation. When you are going through a tailspin, the guys on the team have to maintain a togetherness. Regardless of trade rumors, regardless of who is here, you have to pull strength from each other. That's what we talked about today: You have to look and find where that strength is, because it just might be in you."

At the center of the uneasiness is the status of Wallace, the team's talented and controversial forward who has been included in trade speculation since the summer. The rumors had become so frequent and so varied that Nash pulled Wallace into a meeting with Cheeks after the team's shootaround Thursday.

"The purpose was to provide him with information," Nash said. "I thought it was an effective meeting. I was trying to convey to him what exactly has been going on. As a result of the media attention and rumors swirling around, I wanted him to know what was factual and what wasn't. And Rasheed seemed to recognize that it's part of the business."

Cheeks said the meeting was effective because Wallace took the opportunity to air some of his feelings.

"He talked, and he had some input, and that's what we were looking for," Cheeks said. "We wanted to hear his feelings, not only about what we were talking about, but just in general."

Nash said he has asked Wallace if he wants a contract extension, but he said Wallace has not made up his mind. Cheeks said if Wallace came out and said he wanted to stay in Portland, it could affect how the team approached his status.

"If he comes out and says that, then you have to look at it," Cheeks said. "That would be a strong statement. But I'm not going to stay that he has said that or not."

Cheeks also would not say whether he wanted to keep Wallace.

"You have to look and see what is best for the organization if you keep him or not," Cheeks said. "I don't know any other way to say it. That's the bottom line.

"You see, this is a unique place. There is a great fan base here. But in looking at the arena (Thursday) night -- I don't know how many were there -- but it wasn't indicative of how the Portland Trail Blazer fan base is," Cheeks said. "These are great fans who love their basketball. But it is not there right now. It's very disappointing right now to Trail Blazers fans."

Cheeks said it would be in everybody's best interest if the uncertainty were cleared up.

"And I imagine a resolution will come sooner than later," Cheeks said. "But I don't think it's an easy situation."

Just look at the past 24 hours.

Notes:

Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said he would meet with Nash today, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported. "I'll see how much fire there is to this smoke," Nelson said Friday before the Mavericks' game against the Denver Nuggets. . . . This is the latest the Blazers have been five games under .500 since March 1996. That team, which featured coach P.J. Carlesimo, rookie Arvydas Sabonis and leading scorer Clifford Robinson, was 26-34 and trailed the eighth and final playoff spot by six games with 22 games remaining. But the Blazers won 18 of their final 22 games to finish 44-38, earning them the sixth seed in the playoffs, where they lost their first-round series 3-2 to Utah. . . . Cheeks defended his decision not to practice on Friday even though the team has lost seven of eight. "You can practice, practice, practice, but sometimes you take a different approach. I've got to feel it out and deal with it."