Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers are a professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They are the only major league franchise in the state of Oregon.
Home arenas
- Memorial Coliseum (1970-1995)
- Rose Garden Arena (1995-present)
History
The Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team, and have played in Portland for the entire time. In 1977 they won their only NBA Championship. The team was a regular fixture in the NBA Playoffs through 2003. The team was sold to Paul Allen in 1988. In 1990 and 1992 the Blazers advanced to the NBA Finals but were defeated both times, first by the Detroit Pistons and then by the Chicago Bulls.
The Blazers failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2003-04 and 2004-05, posting records of 41-41 and 27-55. In the 2005-06 season, the team posted a league-worst record of 21-61. The Blazers, a team that owns the second best all-time record for consecutive postseason appearances (21 years in a row), have missed the playoffs four years in a row, the second highest active streak in the NBA.
The Current Team
The Blazers finished the 2005-06 season with a 21-61 record, worst in the NBA. Despite that, they did not fare well in the NBA Draft Lottery, drawing the #4 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. Regardless, they still acquired four first round draft picks, including Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge.
2006 NBA Draft
The Blazers were the busiest team on the day of the 2006 NBA Draft, making numerous trades and landing four first-round picks. On draft day, the Blazers:
- Drafted Tyrus Thomas at #4, and traded his rights, along with Viktor Khryapa to the Chicago Bulls for the rights to the #2 pick, LaMarcus Aldridge from Texas.
- Traded Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and the Blazers second-round pick in 2008 to the Boston Celtics for Raef LaFrentz, Dan Dickau, and the rights to the #7 pick in the draft (Randy Foye).
- Traded the rights to Foye, along with cash considerations, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for the rights to the #6 pick, Brandon Roy from the University of Washington.
- Acquired the rights to the #27 pick, Sergio Rodriguez, from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for cash.
- Drafted Joel Freeland with the #30 pick; he remains playing for CB Gran Canaria of the Spanish ACB league.
- Drafted James White with the #31 pick; traded him to the Indiana Pacers for the rights to the #45 pick (Alexander Johnson from Florida State University) and two future second-round picks.
- Traded the rights to Johnson to the Memphis Grizzlies for a future second rounder.
Other transactions during the 2006 offseason
- On June 30, 2006, the team claimed Nikoloz Tskitishvili off of waivers; he had previously been waived by the Phoenix Suns.
- On July 4, 2006, it was announced that the Blazers reached an agreement in principle to re-sign center Joel Przybilla to a 5-year, US $32 million contract. On July 17, the team announced that the deal was officially signed.
- On July 5, Nikoloz Tskitishvili was waived.
- On July 20, the Blazers announced that rookie Sergio Rodríguez had been signed to a rookie scale contract, and the team had successfully negotiated a buyout with CB Estudiantes of the Spanish League.
- On July 31, the team traded Steve Blake, Ha Seung-Jin, and Brian Skinner to the Milwaukee Bucks for center Jamaal Magloire.
- On August 9, it was announced that draft pick Joel Freeland had signed a two-year deal with CB Gran Canaria.
- Invited Ime Udoka, Stephen Graham, Aaron Miles, and Zendon Hamilton to training camp. Miles was unable to participate due to injury, and Hamilton was cut prior to the start of the season. Udoka and Graham made the team, and in a bit of a surprise, Udoka won the starting small forward position. Later, Ime received a guaranteed contract.
Transactions during the 2006-2007 season
- In December, 2006, it was announced that forward Darius Miles would need to undergo microfracture surgery on his ailing knee, and would miss the remainder of the season.
- On January 2, 2007, the team waived G/F Stephen Graham.
- On February 22, 2007, it was announced that the team had traded Juan Dixon to the Toronto Raptors for Fred Jones and future considerations.
- On March 1, 2007, it was announced that President and GM Steve Patterson, whose contract with the team would have expired in summer of 2007, was resigning. Management oversight of the Trail Blazers was being assumed by Tod Leiweke, the chief executive officer of the Seattle Seahawks (also owned by Paul Allen); it was announced that the team would search for a new president and a new general manager. It was also announced that Leiweke would serve as CEO for a newly formed management company, Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, which would manage all of Paul Allen's sports-related properties, including the Trail Blazers and the Seahawks.
- On March 2, the team called up forward Jeremy Richardson from the NBDL, signing him to a 10-day contract. He was subsequently cut on March 11, after appearing in one game for the team.
- On March 15, the team announced that center Luke Schenscher had been called up from the NBDL and awarded a 10-day contract. He was subsequently awarded a second 10-day contract.
- On March 29, 2007 the team promoted Kevin Pritchard to general manager
2007 NBA Draft
On May 22, 2007 the Trail Blazers won the right to pick first in the 2007 NBA Draft.
Players of note
Basketball Hall of Famers
- Clyde Drexler
- Dr. Jack Ramsay (former Blazer coach)
- Bill Walton
- Lenny Wilkens
Retired numbers
- 1 Larry Weinberg, Team founder-owner, 1970-88 (number in honor, it can still be worn by players)
- 13 Dave Twardzik, G, 1976-80
- 14 Lionel Hollins G, 1975-80 (number retired 04-18-2007)
- 15 Larry Steele, G, 1971-80
- 20 Maurice Lucas, F, 1976-80 & 1987-88
- 22 Clyde Drexler, G, 1983-95
- 32 Bill Walton, C, 1974-78
- 36 Lloyd Neal, C, 1972-79
- 45 Geoff Petrie, G, 1970-76
- 77 Dr. Jack Ramsay, Head Coach, 1976-86 (number in honor of 1976-77 season, Portland's first and only NBA Title to date)
Lionel Hollins's number was retired during the Trail Blazers' final game of the 2006-07 season, on April 18, 2007.
In addition, Drexler, Lucas, Petrie, Twardzik, Walton, Danny Ainge (Number 9, G, 1990-92, also Oregon native) and Jim Paxson (Number 4, G, 1980-87) are members of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.
Other notable players
- Alaa Abdelnaby
- Rick Adelman
- Danny Ainge
- Derek Anderson
- Billy Ray Bates
- Sam Bowie
- Ron Brewer
- Mark Bryant
- Kenny Carr
- Dale Davis
- Kevin Duckworth
- Leroy Ellis
- Brian Grant
- Lionel Hollins
- John Johnson
- Steve Johnson
- Steve Kerr
- Jerome Kersey
- Jeff Lamp
- Lafayette Lever
- Calvin Natt
- Tom Owens
- Ruben Patterson
- Jim Paxson
- Geoff Petrie
- Drazen Petrovic
- Scottie Pippen
- Terry Porter
- Ramon Ramos
- Kelvin Ransey
- Isaiah Rider
- Cliff Robinson
- Arvydas Sabonis
- Detlef Schrempf
- Steve Smith
- Damon Stoudamire
- Rod Strickland
- Mychal Thompson
- Darnell Valentine
- Kiki Vandeweghe
- Rasheed Wallace
- Bonzi Wells
- Sidney Wicks
- Buck Williams
Coaches and others
Current Coaching Staff
The head coach of the Trail Blazers is Nate McMillan. Assistant Coaches include Dean Demopoulos (Lead Assistant Coach), Bill Bayno, Maurice Lucas, and Monty Williams. The training and conditining staff includes Geoff Clark (Assistant Athletic Trainer/Equipment Manager), Jay Jensen (Head Athletic Trainer), Bob Medina, (Strength & Conditioning Coach), and Bradley Weinrich (Director of Basketball Operations)
The complete list of Trail Blazers' head coaches, and the time of their tenures, is as follows:
- Rolland Todd, 1970-1972
- Stu Inman 1972 (interim)
- Jack McCloskey, 1972-1974
- Lenny Wilkens, 1974-1976
- Dr. Jack Ramsay, 1976-1986
- Mike Schuler, 1986-1989
- Rick Adelman, 1989 (interim), 1989-1994
- PJ Carlesimo, 1994-1997
- Mike Dunleavy, 1997-2001
- Maurice Cheeks, 2001-2005
- Kevin Pritchard 2005 (interim)
- Nate McMillan 2005-present
Current Team Management
- Paul Allen, Owner
- Mike Fennel, Vice President, General Counsel
- J.E. Isaac, Senior Vice President, Business Affairs
- Gregg Olson, Chief Financial Officer*
- Tod Leiweke, President (interim)
- Kevin Pritchard, General Manager
Current and former media personalities
- Mike Barrett, Television Play-by-Play
- Antonio Harvey, Radio Analyst
- Mike Rice, Television Analyst
- Bill Schonely, Founding Broadcaster/Ambassador
- Brian Wheeler, Radio Play-by-Play