Brandon Roy returned to action this week inspiring and reviving his Portland Trailblazers playoff hopes. In his return, the Rose Garden played the theme music to Rocky, and the Blazers pulled off a 96-87 victory. All was good in Blazerland. Roy had returned,  albeit to a bench role, and the Blazers had tied the series with the Phoenix Suns at 2 games apiece

Game 5 however, was a rude awakening for the Blazers with Brandon Roy showing signs of rust, going 2-7 from the field and contributing 5 points and 4 fouls in 19:08. Yikes.

Is Roy's return to the Blazers detriment?

Sure Brandon Roy is the cornerstone of the Blazers having any chance of doing absolutely anything in the post season, but one must ask, at what cost does B Roy’s return have on the Blazers effectiveness?

Roy played somewhat like normal B Roy during game 4, but he was noneffective in game 5.

How unlikely is it that B Roy will be able to be anything like NBA All Star B Roy during this series?

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I am a huge fan of Brandon Roy. I hope for him to recover from his microscopic surgery and play well as much as anyone.

As a basketball purist, I have to take sides with the ideology that from a coaching standpoint I have to play the guys that are in absolute tip-top shape, and put my star under the microscope with a hyper quick evaluation process.

Is 20 minutes of mediocre-level B Roy worth sacrificing minutes for Rudy Fernandez. Jerryd Bayless or Martel Webster to have a chance at a breakout performance?

Surely Fernandez has struggled this year, but he is a mercurial talent who can flat out produce major long range damage from behind the arc.

Martel Webster is a strong defender, and he will never be Brandon Roy, but is it worth minimizing his potential to errupt in game 6? Webster also represents inside and outside scoring potential, as well as being a strong defender.

Additionally, both Webster and Fernandez are young talents who could benefit from more playoff experience this season. Who can argue this season that the Blazers have a chance this year without depth at the center position? There is no chance at an NBA title.

So why not let Roy recover fully so that next season he, Greg Oden, and Joel Pryzbilla can join a more experienced and tested roster to make a real go at it?

Does Nate McMillan and company really need 20 minutes of ineffective B Roy to know whether or not he will be effective?

Nude photographs of Trailblazers center Greg Oden have surfaced on the internet. Oden admitted to sending the images, via his mobile device, to an ex-college squeeze he was romantically involved with. He also made a public apology:

“I would like to apologize to everybody: Portland, the fans, the organization. It was very embarrassing.”

Kids these days call it “sexting,” the sending of sultry images accompanied by flirtatious text messages to try and steam things up in young couples’ relationship.

Who would of thought Oden to be such a young Casanova?

Anyone seen my cellphone? (Credit: picapp.com)

Naturally this is a inflated story since Oden, the #1 overall pick in the 2007 draft, has experienced his second season-ending knee injury of his career this year. Since media currently can’t cover his on court accomplishments, they are going to focus on his off court lifestyle.

Oden seems to forget at times that he is a celebrity. Starting from his Ohio State career and moving onto his #1 overall draft pick status, Oden will, without a doubt, be in the spotlight for years. He is only 22, and people forget this fact from time to time. I mean, the guy looks old, so old in fact we did a Benjamin Button Greg Oden lookalike piece. That is how old we think he looks over here at Protect the Paint.

Is this really such a big deal?

It is not like Oden was pulled over on a motorcycle as if his name were Mad Max. That is Delonte West’s dilemna, remember?

Oden never brought illegal handguns into the locker room, and threatened Brandon Roy over a in flight gambling debt. He did not hand one to Roy and attempt some sort of idiotic joke with weapons. That is all Gilbert Arenas’ department.

He has not violated the league drug policy. Oden does not have wings tattooed on his arms, that was Chris “Birdman” Andersen.

My point is Oden did something over a 1.5 years ago, and it was done privately. The girl leaked it, and so it goes. Does his actions have any impact on anyone else other than himself? Not really.

Is nudity something worth getting bent out of shape over?

Oden is no Kim Kardashian, and we probably (hopefully) won’t see Oden on a bed taking provocatively slow bites from a large Carl’s Junior hamburger anytime soon. It’s  because Oden is a celebrity and people (unfortunately) love it when bad things happen to celebrities that this becomes big news.

Here is a video montage of the pictures, courtesy of worldstarhiphop.com:

The match up of the Spurs vs. Trail Blazers will represent a slug-fest in the west.

Portland will test themselves against the retooled Spurs lineup, as the Spurs will also see how well they can perform against a deep yet young team  who is coming off of 54 wins last year.

KEY MATCH UPS

Tim Duncan vs. Greg Oden Duncan has been opting to shoot more outside jumpers, a strategy derived by Greg Popovich, in order to spare Duncan’s knees from the constant grind of pounding points down low in the paint. Greg Oden has shown signs of life rebounding and defending this season, and Duncan will provide him another tough guard to add another clink in his armor. Brandon Roy vs. Manu Ginobili

Brandon Roy will put Ginobili’s surgically repaired ankles to the test tonight. Both Roy and Ginobili are crafty, smart players. It will be fun to watch who will out-craft who with their similar style of game.

Ginobili will to be looking forward to a post game icing.

SYNAPSIS

Both teams are reputable for their long range shooting. This game should be a well-balanced long range bombing fiasco. Look for Rudy Fernandez, Steve Blake and Roy to balance out bombers Matt Bonner, Richard Jefferson, and Ginobili.

For the Blazers it will be interesting to see if free agent signing Andre Miler will help slow down Tony Parker. Steve Blake has been a major liability playing against the leagues best point guards, so tonight will indicate how dividends Miller will pay for the Blazers.

With the Spurs reeling off loss in Utah last night, they should come to play. Only thing is, playing in Rose Garden Arena might be just as tough as playing in Energy Solutions Arena, making this the game of the week worth catching!

Every NBA season sees a few guys break out. Players that finally got the chance to get the necessary minutes to put up legit stats and took advantage of the opportunity. Jeff Green of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kelenna Azubuike of the Golden State Warriors were these type of players from this past season. Green went from 28 to nearly 37 minutes a game upping his average from 10.5 to 16.5 ppg. Azubuike’s minute total went from 21 to 32 and he took advantage upping his points per game average from 8.5 to 14.4. We at Protect the Paint will now give you Part 1 of the Top 10 Under-the-Radar Breakout Players of 2009-10.

Can Amir win Skiles over and earn playing time? (Credit: picapp.com)

10. Amir Johnson F/C Milwaukee Bucks: Only 22, but has been in the league since 2005 buried on the Pistons bench with some time in the D-League. Seldom had the chance to incur the growing pains a young player needs in order to develop—he never got the necessary minutes. Johnson should see plenty of time in Milwaukee under coach Scott Skiles who will appreciate his defensive effort. Look for Amir to round out his game and see an upward swing in production in the first quarter of the season. That is, if Skiles lets him play through his mistakes.

Dj White will prove the pundits wrong this season. (Credit: picapp.com)

9. D.J. White F Oklahoma City Thunder: The former Big 10 Player of the Year came into the league last season, but his rookie year was delayed five months after undergoing surgery on his jaw to remove a benign growth. Played six games in the D-League before debuting for the Thunder in April. Played in only seven games but immediately proved he could play against NBA talent scoring 8.9 points with 4.6 rebounds in just over 18 minutes per game. Should fit right into the Thunder rotation for 2009-10 as one of the first players off Scott Brooks’ bench.

A bigger stronger Brewer could explode this season. (Credit: dimemag.com)

8. Corey Brewer G/F Minnesota Timberwolves: Bulked up about 15 pounds while rehabbing his surgically repaired ACL which was a necessity considering he was listed last year at just 185 lbs. which wasn’t much for a player standing 6’9”. Has been working on what his game lacks most, shooting. If Brewer can raise his offensive game to match his defensive tenacity, he will be well on his way to becoming the player Minnesota thought he was when they selected him with the 7th pick of the 2007 Draft. We will get the first glimpse of Brewer’s new frame and skills starting today when the Las Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League begins.

Will Rudy get the minutes to break out this year? (Credit: picapp.com)

7. Rudy Fernandez G Portland Trailblazers: The decorated European star had an excellent first season in the NBA last year in the Pacific Northwest setting the rookie record for most three-pointers made (159), but has just scratched the surface of realizing his potential. If he gets more than the 25 minutes per game he averaged last season, the Spaniard could explode into one of the top players in the league. Recent rumors of his unhappiness after Portland’s failed attempt to sign Hedo Turkoglu could result in Fernandez being included in any potential deal in the making.

Regardless of where Thomas ends up, will he live up to his hype? (Credit: picapp.com)

6. Tyrus Thomas F Chicago Bulls: Overdue for his breakout year—showed flashes of his superstar potential. If Thomas can stop his love affair with the jump shot and continuously attack the rim, his point per game total will dramatically increase. He is a solid free throw shooter (78% last year) and by getting to the rim he could up his scoring average to 18-20 points. If he can stay on the court for 35 minutes a game Thomas should produce All-Star caliber numbers. Anything less would be a real let down. Rumored to be part of a deal that would send him to Utah with Carlos Boozer coming to Chicago.

Check back tomorrow to find the top 5 in our NBA Top 10 Under-The-Radar Breakout Players of 2009-10: Part 2

The free agent signings of Jason Kidd, Hedo Turkoglu, and Trevor Ariza beg the question: What’s up with NBA players turning their back on winning for money? Especially guys that have already had monster contracts. We’ll give Ariza a bit of a break because he won a ring with the Lakers last month and had yet to score the monster payday, but Kidd and Turkoglu are different stories, especially Kidd.

Kidd has earned $158 million in salary alone over the course of his career. $158 million. How much more freakin’ cash does he need? Does he live that “high on the hog” he’d go for the scratch instead of a real chance at winning? Does he drive a fur-lined Countach? Seems like a future Hall of Famer would like to close out his career with some hardware. Is this guy feeding all of his hometown of Oakland? And Latrell Sprewell’s family? Could be the alimony payments to Joumana.

Turkoglu has earned $35 million over the course of his career. The difference between the Blazers offer ($50 million) versus the Raptors offer ($53 million) is more than most of us will ever make, but he traded a great opportunity for team success in Portland for keeping his wife happy in Toronto.

If you analyze any other career in the world you will notice that compensation is performance based. If you fail to perform you inevitably fail to retain your position. It is a sad state of affairs within the NBA when players can go to a team with no chance of winning simply to make more money. It should go against the ideology of being a professional athlete.

Magic and Bird are true professionals by definition. (Credit: vurbmoto.com)

Have they any pride? Isn’t a professional athlete’s job supposed to be winning? Seems like it’s become more about the groupies and hangin’ in the champagne room of whatever strip club in whatever city they happen to be in that night. And why are guys on opposing teams so buddy-buddy with each other? That’s truly nauseating. Watching dudes hug and giggle with one another in the midst of a game isn’t supposed to happen. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had tremendous respect for one another, but were the fiercest of enemies on the court. This is not a bromance after all. It is basketball.

The game has devolved into what is often simply entertainment instead of fierce competition. It’s just not about winning for the vast majority of players in this league which has to make you wonder why fans allow this. Are they too hypnotized by $10 beers, the beats blaring from stadium loudspeakers, and fat guy dance troupes?

By today's standards, Bird and Magic would make less then the mid-level exception. (Credit: usinflationcalculator.com)

And since we referenced Magic and Bird, Protect the Paint decided to research how much money Magic and Bird made during their careers. Yes, it was a much different time, but the money these guys made didn’t render the concept of winning and losing obsolete like it so often does today.

Magic earned around $46 Million, with $15 million of that in his final two seasons. Deduct the $15 million from the $46 million and you have $31 Million over the first 15 years of his career.

Magic got his payday as a reward for winning NBA titles. (Credit: basketball-reference.com)

That averages out to roughly $2 million per season. Kidd will average $8.3 million for 3 years, and has but a minuscule chance at winning a championship. Obviously one could argue about inflation, and how their salaries would inflate to something near that, but it is hard to imagine either Magic or Bird leaving for the money when they were in a situation to win it all.

Even adjusting for inflation, these guys didn’t come close to making what dudes make today.

Larry Legend made an approximate total of $26.5 million during his ENTIRE career. That is $1.5 million more than Jason Kidd will make over the next three years.

Bird knew winning required making less money. (Credit: basketball-reference.com)

Larry Bird made $1.5 million in 1990-91 (a million less than Robert Parish), and didn’t care that he wasn’t the highest paid guy on the squad.

Star Players shared what little wealth they had in order to win. (Credit: Basketball-reference.com)

In the same 1990-91 season, Magic earned $2.4 million which was the most on the team, but he wasn’t obsessed with who made what.

Bird and Magic were true professionals from a bygone era. No one today compares. Not the Michael Jackson-mourning Kobe, not LeBron (especially after what happened when King James got dunked on in a pick-up game), not anyone.

They wanted to be on the best team, and be the best player on that team. They wanted to play against the best team, and beat them, no matter what the cost. If they were to make less money, that was okay. It wasn’t the point. They were already making over a million bucks for a game they would most likely have played for nothing.

They won. They did not allow their salary to interfere with the number one goal of their sport which was bringing home the title. The only greed in these guys had was the greed of winning more and more. Not money.

Realistically, how much money does someone deserve for playing the game basketball? Yes, we get the concept of supply and demand, but too many guys today play for the wrong reasons.

It’s sad when ridiculous salaries blur the concept of competition.

This past week we have seen Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva join Detroit.

Ron Artest took a pay cut and is hoping to get his first ring playing for the world champion Lakers.

Hedo Turkoglu reneged on a Portland offer, selecting the Raptors instead.

Rasheed Wallace is now alongside Kevin Garnett in Boston.

Trevor Ariza maxed out his contract value and is Houston-bound.

And Finally, Jason Kidd is staying in Dallas instead of going to New York.

The free agent signings become official today, the first day that players are allowed to ink their verbal agreements. There are more deals to come involving free agents, and it is going to be interesting to see where everyone ends up.

We here at Protect the Paint will list some of the rumors/moves involving the available free agents.

REMAINING FREE AGENTS

Lamar Odom

Odom might be hugging members of the Blazers soon. (Credit: daylife.com)

Lamar Odom doesn’t seem to be thinking repeat. Instead he and his agent want to be shown the money in the neighborhood of $10 million per season. Odom appears to be going the Trevor Ariza route, cashing in elsewhere now that he has the ring. He sacrificed his stats to win and now wants to sign with a team that could offer him a starting position and big bucks. Should have a different address in 2009-10. The Blazers are reportedly interested. Championship experience on an up and coming squad never hurts.

Andre Miller

Looks like Miller is heading to Portland. Gives the Blazers the floor general they lacked last season and gives Miller a chance to win. Good match all the way around.

Brandon Bass

Bass would make a mistake going to Detroit. (Credit: ocregister.com)

Bass could be staying in Dallas, heading to Orlando, or possibly ending up in Detroit. It makes absolutely no sense for him to sign with the Pistons. With rumors circulating of Carlos Boozer being shipped there for Rip Hamilton, and Charlie Villanueva signing a 5-year deal, he would essentially be the third option at power forward. The Magic need help up front. Orlando would be a good fit.

Antonio McDyess

McDyess could get a ring if he heads to San Antonio. (Credit: ugplay.com)

McDyess is leaning towards San Antonio in the most recent rumor involving the veteran which would provide more depth in the Spurs front court. He’s a solid shooter and depenable on the glass averaging 9.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg last year for the Pistons. The Spurs would have a solid 1-2 post punch with McDyess and Tim Duncan giving them the size to contend with the Lakers huge frontline.

Marcin Gortat

Marcin Gortat is going to get paid big bucks this summer. (Credit: mlive.com)

Most likely headed to Dallas. We’ll see how he responds to more minutes and more responsibility. This is a huge loss for Orlando who now have lost the majority of their front line not named Dwight Howard–Tony Battie via the Vince Carter deal, Hedo Turkoglu to free agency, and Gortat. The Magic better hope Ryan Anderson is as good as Pat Williams thinks he will be.

Grant Hill

Hill should go to a contender rather than a pretender. (Credit: offsideswithfletcher.com)

There are rumors of Hill heading to the the Knicks. Finally healthy, his game resurfaced playing with Phoenix. He appeared in all 82 games for the Suns last season. It’s unfortunate that he would want to make the move to New York, especially when he could most likely ink himself onto another team with better chances of winning a title. Seems like he and fellow 1994 co-ROY Jason Kidd have more in common then we thought: Take the money, not the chance for a championship ring.

Channing Frye

Frye could play minutes that matter for the Cavs. (Credit: nike.com)

Frye is very interested in signing with Cleveland. The guy has been marred with the “wrong place, wrong time” syndrome during his career. He was buried behind David Lee in New York and then behind LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland. If Cleveland loses Anderson Varajao, Frye will have an immediate chance for big minutes at power forward for the Cavs. This is a good opportunity for both sides. Frye has showed he has a lot of game and could be a late bloomer if given the chance.

Trade rumors involving Carlos Boozer, Rip Hamilton, Andre Miller, and CJ Miles are circulating throughout the league.

With substantial free agent activity about to ensue,  trades will be made by both cash-strapped teams and ones hoping to clear cap room for next summer. Historically it has been proven that teams will make trades out of desperation (i.e. Jason Kidd for Devin Harris to the Mavs). What teams are on the verge of making moves they will one day regret.

Protect the Paint will now look at some of the trade rumors floating around the league:

RUMORED TRADES

Carlos Boozer in exchange for Rip Hamilton

Boozer might be headed to Detroit for Rip Hamilton. (Credit: scorereport.com)

It is obvious Hamilton needs to be shipped elsewhere as Ben Gordon and Stuckey are the back-court of the future/now. It’s rare a guy is awarded $50 million or more to be the 6th man. It is curious though as Boozer and Charlie Villanueva essentially play the same position. By trading for Boozer, what purpose was there in signing Villanueva? With free agency rumors involving Brandon Bass, one must wonder why Joe Dumars is trying to stockpile power forwards.

Andre Miller to the Portland Trailblazers

Andre Miller: heading to Portland via sign and trade? (Credit: slamonline.com)

Miller appears to be on his way to Portland via the sign and trade. We mentioned this possibility here last week. This is a sensible move for the Blazers who lacked experience at the point especially evident in the post-season. Brandon Roy will thrive with a good decision maker running the show. Portland may trade Rudy Fernandez–rumored to be unhappy even after Hedo Turkoglu decided not to come to the team–which may be a move general manager Kevin Pritchard ends up regretting. Expect Travis Outlaw to be a part of the deal.

CJ Miles to Toronto Raptors/Boston Celtics/New Jersey Nets

CJ Miles is heating up the trade talks. (Credit: blog.tribphoto.com)

There are many teams (possibly six) rumored to be closing in on C.J. Miles. Miles is young (22), a capable shooter (46% FG in 2008-09), and has played within Jerry Sloan’s strict system. Boston, Toronto, and New Jersey could use his outside shooting, and it is a safe assumption he would thrive in a system outside of Utah, as other players have (see Mo Wiliams). New Jersey has the most talent to offer. Miles would see an increase in minutes in Toronto or New Jersey, resulting in a chance to realize his potential.

Shawn Marion to the Dallas Mavericks

Marion: Heading to Dallas, but will it do any good? (Credit: daylife.com)

This would be a sign and trade deal in which Marion comes to Big D with Jery Stackhouse heading a package of players headed north of the border. This move would give the Mavs some athleticism and a good rebounder. The nucleus of Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Marion with Jason Terry and the possible addition of Marcin Gortat improves the roster. Whether it places them among the upper echelon teams of the Western Conference is up for debate. This roster appears to be a work in progress.

This past Thursday, Hedo Turkoglu–who opted out in Orlando after vastly improving his stock during the Magic’s run to the finals–announced he would sign a fat deal with the Portland Trailblazers, good for $50 million over 5 years. Sounds good.

Then on Friday, Turkoglu reneged on this agreement to come to the pacific northwest and decided to head about as far north as you can go in the NBA to the Toronto Raptors for $53 million over 5 years. Either way, these two offers for Hedo dwarf the Orlando offer ($35 million over 4 years).

The $3 million more Toronto is offering–which is nothing to sneeze at–may have more to do with placating Mrs. Turkoglu than anything else?

In Portland, Hedo would have joined All-Star Brandon Roy on the up and coming team in the super-competitive Western Conference. Instead, Hedo opted to join a far weaker Toronto Raptors team as part of Bryan Colangelo’s last ditch effort to retain Chris Bosh past 2010. Winning doesn’t appear to be priority number one for Hedo.

Hedo is joining a weaker team in a weaker division for $3 million more (Credit: streetball.com)

In being outbid for Hedo by teams with more cash to spend, and opting to allow Courtney Lee go in the deal that brought Vince Carter to Florida, Orlando has now lost two vital cogs in the rotation that got them to the finals. As a result, the Magic become slower and older. Rarely the elixir for NBA success.

Protect the Paint will now view the pros and cons of Turkoglu selecting Toronto over Portland.

PROS

Hedo's passing skills will be useful for Toronto (Credit: sportsagentblog.com)

Hedo is an amazing passer/ball-handler for a guy his size. There are very few 6’10” players who can drop in 20 points and 10+ assists on any given night. Hedo is one of the few.

Turkoglu will instantaneously make life easier on Chris Bosh. The floor spacing of Hedo, Jose Calderon, and Andrea Bargnani should allow Bosh to have more of an impact late in games when it really matters. Look for a huge spike in production and desire out of a rejuvenated Bosh. No one knows if this will this be enough to keep in him in Canada for years to come, but you have to give the Raptors’ front office and A for effort.

Turkoglu is one of the best at finishing games and his play in the 4th quarter should dramatically help Toronto in close games.

Brandon Roy almost had Turkoglu at his side (Credit: nike.com)

CONS

Adding Turkoglu to the team almost certainly results in Toronto not being able to retain Shawn Marion–a tireless rebounder and full of hustle. This results in the Raptors becoming a much weaker rebounding team.

Boozer started the trend of breaking verbal agreements (Credit: nike.com)

Turkoglu’s reputation takes a hit here. Hedo is now the latest to pull off a Carlos Boozer. It’s not quite the same scenario. Boozer was let of a deal and then hosed the Cavs. Hedo opted out. He’ll say he didn’t use the Blazers offer as leverage for something better. We’ll never know for sure.

Hedo will take extra money and justify it by saying he can be in a more international, multi-cultural city. Although there may be a Turkish community up there, there is no Championship-caliber basketball team. This indicates where Hedo’s head and heart are, or maybe better put, where they’re not–not concerned with winning. If they were, he would choose Portland by a landslide. Gotta keep the wife happy though.

SYNOPSIS

Hedo’s arrival in Toronto will result in a 7-8 playoff seed. That’s better than last year, but it is doubtful they will go any further as they will lose Marion, Anthony Parker, and possibly more in order to pay his salary, in addition to stockpiling the money needed to resign Bosh. The Raptors are now good enough to get in the playoffs, but will be ‘one and done’ once they get there as rebounding and tough defense keeps you alive in the post-season.

Bosh will have 1 year with Turkoglu to decide to stay in Toronto (Credit: cbcnews.com)

Bosh will not be able to carry this load. He will be frustrated his team won’t advance past the first round, and sign elsewhere (in America) in 2010. At least Hedo will have his international city, and Turkish community, and oh yeah, the $53 Million. That kind of coin always helps ease the sting of losing.

Seems like Portland managed to dodge the bullet of signing a player more focused on money and living situation over winning.

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