2011-2012 Finish: 24-42

Season Highlight
The year was 2008. The plucky Trail Blazers team, under the guidance of ColtonDavis, took the playoffs and more fancied opponents by storm, winning the NLL championship from the sixth seed. Now we don’t know if it was a 4 year championship hangover, arrogance or the fact that Colton just didn’t care anymore, but since 2008, the Blazers haven’t finished above .500
So maybe, in yet another disappointing season, in which the Blazers finished 20 games below .500, the fact that the Blazers finally have a fresh and energetic new GM in DJdrew could be the highlight.

Season Lowlight
The month of March was particularly cruel to the Portland faithful. With Colton’s mind elsewhere, the Blazers had no guidance from the top, and this filtered down, really affecting the team’s performances on the court. The Blazers would win 2 games in March, a fitting final parting gift from Colton for the suffering Portland fans. .


Best Trade
The Phoenix Suns send Jason Maxiell and Derrick Favors to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland Trail Blazers send Marcin Gortat, Jon Brockman and Ekpe Udoh to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns receive 3 GM points. The Portland Trail Blazers trade -3 GM points.
All of Portland’s trades this season were pretty hard to rank, We’d have given this one made by Colton the best trade tag, as it brings in a young guy who really could be a star big man in this league. Sure they had to give up Gortat and Udoh, but Udoh looks like a bust, and Favors just has so much more upside than the Polish hammer.


Worst Trade
The New Jersey Nets send Emeka Okafor to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland Trail Blazers send Shaun Livingston, CJ Miles and Ronny Turiaf to the New Jersey Nets. The Portland Trail Blazers send a 2nd-Rounder (Por) to the New Jersey Nets. The New Jersey Nets receive 20 GM points.
The Portland Trail Blazers trade -20 GM points. With the good, you inevitably get the bad, and this trade by Colton definitely is bad. Not only do the Blazers take on the declining and always injured Emeka Okafor and his terrible contract, but they also give up handy pieces in Miles, Turiaf and their second round pick. But that’s not all, Colton also decided to part with 20, yes 20 gm points. Wow.


Other Notable Trades
Djdrew arrived late in the season; he made one quick trade and then took the phone off the hook until draft day, where he made another.
The Miami Heat send Joe Johnson to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Portland Trail Blazers send Andre Iguodala and Linas Kleiza to the Miami Heat.
The Portland Trail Blazers send a 2nd-Rounder (Tor) to the Miami Heat. This trade probably divides opinions in the NLL. On one hand, you have the beyond ridiculous contract that’s attached to Joe Johnson, but then you see the numbers that Joe put up after he joined Portland. 35 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per on 50% shooting. That’s amazing production. But worth 20 million? Only if those numbers continue.
The Portland Trail Blazers send Travis Leslie and Jeremy Lamb to the Washington Wizards. The Washington Wizards send Jordan Crawford to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Portland Trail Blazers trade -5 GM points. The Washington Wizards receive 5 GM points. Djdrew gets his man here in Jordan Crawford, well we’re assuming he’s a Wizards fan, as pick 6 seems like a little much for an undersized two guard. The kid can score, however, and maybe he and his NBA running mate John Wall will produce a nice little backcourt in Portland.
Best FA Signing
Ryan Gomes - F. Not a bumper year for Portland free agents, but Gomes was pretty decent coming off the bench at both forward spots. 7 points and 4 rebounds per game were pretty handy.


Worst FA Signing
Bobby Simmons- F. Ok, ok, so he’s not on that ghastly contract anymore, but even the $400,000 Portland shelled out was probably too much to pay for his 1 point and 1 rebound per in 16 games.


Star
John Wall- PG – In his second season in the big time, Wall found himself having to carry a little less of the weight of the franchise on his back. And he cruised through the season, playing all 66 games and putting up 20 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals a game. Very nice numbers for the lightning fast sophomore.


Surprise
Joe Johnson- SF – Nobody expected Joe to put up numbers worth of his contract this season, but by golly, he may have justified it. 35 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 50% shooting is a brilliant season no matter what your contract. The only reason he didn’t get the star was he only played the last 20 games of the season for Portland.


Goat
Emeka Okafor- C – 13 is the magic number for Emeka. No not 13 points and 13 rebounds. 13 games and 13 million. Yep, Okafor made 1 million a game this season. His real points and rebound numbers? 8 and 7. Poor old Emeka couldn’t even crack double digits. Ladies and gentleman, we have found our goat.


Draft Report Card
Portland entered draft day with pick 6, and selected Jeremy Lamb, the lengthy shooter out of UConn. However he was swiftly traded to the Wizards for Jordan Crawford. Pick six seemed a little much for Crawford, but he is only one year out of college himself, so time will tell who wins this deal.

Looking to the Future
Coming off such a poor season, the Blazers roster doesn’t look too bad heading into the 2012-13 campaign. The starting five are all signed up, Wall, Crawford, Johnson, Favors and Okafor. And it contains a nice mix of youth and experience. They even have 3 solid bench options ready to go in Will Bynum, Jason Maxiell and Gomes. If only they didn’t have that Okafor contract, which leaves them with 7 roster spots to fill but only $300,000 under the salary cap. Still if the Djdrew can use his MLE wisely, and land some minimum contract guys, he will have something to work with. And if he can somehow convince someone to take on Okafor, then even better.

Upcoming Free Agents
Jerome Dyson, Solomon Alabi, Brian Cook, Bobby Simmons, Jamaal Magloire and Ronnie Price are all unsigned. However they are all end of the bench guys and who knows where they will be next season.