Think the Oklahoma City Thunder, circa 2023-24 (59 wins) or better yet their championship season (2024-25), with their two stars (SGA & Jalen Williams) leading the charge, all while being supported by a stellar supporting cast. OKC has depth for days too!

Avdija is officially an All-Star, so now let's talk about Shaedon Sharpe. If he can make the same leap next season as Deni did this year (Breakout to even cusp of All-Stardom), the Blazers championship window will be blown open, especially with Dame being added back to the mix.

And for those keeping score at home, to keep pace with the current Gold Standard in the NBA - the OKC Thunder - the Blazers, in the 5th year of their rebuild, would need to finish with 59 wins.

With the Blazers finally getting healthy, they are playing their best basketball of the season. And leading the charge is Deni Avdija, who's All-Star campaign actually began last year. See linked article below: A[n All]-Star is Born – Building Block #2

Didn't intend for this to be ominous, just went with a less is more approach. My youngest with special needs graduated high school and now is always home.

On a more personal note, due to a life change, I have considerably less space and time to devote to writing, hence it having been so long (6+ months) since my last article.

Portland Trail Blazers 2025 Offseason Recap & Early Season Looksee: “What a long, strange trip it’s been”! (Grateful Dead lyric is an homage to Big Red - William Theodore Walton III) oregonsportsnews.com/from-chaos-t...

I'll be shocked if Ayton doesn't end up on the Lakers. He just makes too much sense for them: oregonsportsnews.com/a-most-excel...

After LeBron opted into the final year of his contract, thereby making a trade between the Blazers & Lakers even more complex, maybe this is a "creative" way for the Blazers to reroute Ayton to the Lakers!?

"It's a great day to be a Blazer!"

The Portland Trail Blazers Aced Their Final Exam, thereby passing the class they were failing at Mid-Terms (Just as before, the Oklahoma City Thunder remain the measuring stick): oregonsportsnews.com/portland-tra...

"Yeah, Nico, go ahead & trade Doncic to the Lakers. We'll make sure you get the #1 pick." ... "LeBron could retire any year now & LA needs a star" ... "Besides, you keep saying defense wins championship & Flagg should help with both."

If I’m the Trail Blazers, I would also give Jarred Vanderbilt serious consideration, even though he has 3 years left on his deal (the 3rd being a player option) and is injury prone. I mean, who wouldn’t want a Dennis Rodman in training!? www.nytimes.com/athletic/440...

It will likely create some, but not enough to fully absorb DeAndre Ayton’s contract. Meaning, to make the numbers work, the Lakers would need to include one or both of the expiring contracts of Gabe Vincent &/or Maxi Kleber....

A couple of housekeeping items: 1) Los Angeles has only 1 tradeable 1st round pick (2031 or 2032), not 2 after trading for Luka Doncic 2) Even if LeBron James opts out with the intention of resigning, this won’t create cap space for LA on a dollar-for-dollar basis....

Los Angeles receives: - Deandre Ayton Portland receives: - 1 of LA’s two remaining tradeable 1st round picks Within the article you'll find why it makes sense for both teams, especially LA, & a couple non-breaking breaking news items.

With the Blazers having been officially eliminated from postseason contention, we can now turn out attention to what I trust will be a transformative offseason. I think this trade is the perfect jumping off point:

Figured it was going to be a good long while before I could say this again, but it truly is a great day to be a Blazer! Rip City, what we're witnessing just might "be the most unlikely [turnaround] in NBA history": oregonsportsnews.com/the-hottest-...