And after this, I think we’ve worn out the topic:

• I was in error previously when I talked about the Trail Blazers getting Paul to agree to extension prior to any deal. I do not now believe that is possible. You can’t get a player to sign an extension until the final year of his deal, which Paul is a year away from. And when he gets to that final season, we’re going to be in a lockout, so you likely won’t be able to get him signed then, either.
• Without having him for longer than two seasons, I’d be real careful about giving up any young and promising players for him. Most teams would. Man, you might get him for only a season and a half if that lockout lasts as long as some people think it will next summer.
• People getting all over Paul for wanting his team to acquire better players may be ignoring how many other players who have done the same thing over the years. Kobe Bryant did it just a couple of seasons ago. And to a degree I sympathize with players caught on teams that are in the midst of salary dumps and obviously aren’t trying to win.
• At the same time, I grew up in an era when players were stuck with one franchise for their entire careers, if the teams wanted to keep them. Ever hear of Ernie Banks? Stuck with the horrid Cubs forever. Never whined and never complained. Just wanted to play two every day. It isn’t a player’s god-given right to win a championship, you know.
• David Stern is distressed over the whole idea of his superstars congregating on three or four teams. So are many owners. And there’s a new collective bargaining agreement coming up soon. Don’t be surprised if the owners don’t try to make it tougher on players to leave a franchise. This, of course, is going to be difficult to do in that the owners want to shorten the length of max contracts, too.
• I’ve said this before and people in Portland are livid with me about it, but if all things were equal — if Roy weren’t a base-year player, if his salary matched up with Paul and they had the same number of years left on their deals — I’d trade Roy for Paul in a heartbeat. I mean, if you’re going to have one player dominating the ball all the time, who wouldn’t pick Paul over Roy?
• The sooner this Paul talk is shut down, the sooner the Blazers can get back to a deal they can actually make — not some pipedream — to improve their team.

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Man, this city’s got a love affair with the guy.

Never mind the fact that the Hornets haven’t yet said they’d shop him — although Paul’s making it easy for them to justify it to their fans because he’s asking out (which makes it possible for the team to turn the player into the villain and make a deal with less criticism). And never mind there may be other teams on Paul’s list that could make better offers than the Trail Blazers.

Everybody wants Paul and they want him now, darn it!

But you have to give up something to get him. For just two years, too, quite possibly. I’m not at all convinced that he doesn’t have a plan to bolt wherever he is as soon as he can and head off to join pals in New York or Miami.

Anyway, would you surrender Greg Oden to get him? Would you give up Oden and Nic Batum? How about Brandon Roy?

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The guy has two years left — and a player option for another. And that player option means it’s really a two-year deal.

You willing to deal Nic Batum for a guy who could be gone in two years? I’m not sure. I’d be real careful about thinking I could convince him to extend that deal to stay in Portland within two seasons. Not sure it would happen. This guy just signed on with LeBron James’ marketing company, folks. Is that the first step toward him heading off to join the superheroes in Miami?

Also not sure Nate McMillan’s willing to turn his offense over to Paul, which is what he’d have to do to win with him — and to keep Paul happy.

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Let me offer right away that I have no inside information whatsoever. What follows is speculation, based on the kinds of moves I’ve seen happen in previous situations in this league. And a creepy feeling that there is some sort of master plan at work here that we don’t know about.

What does it mean that the Trail Blazers are seeking to pay a second-year player they really like, Wesley Matthews, around $9.2 million next season to be a backup off-guard behind Brandon Roy?

Well, my conclusion would be that they’re looking to use the current backups — both of them — in a trade. If either Jerryd Bayless or Rudy Fernandez is still around at training camp and Matthews is here, I’d be shocked. At $9.2 million, Matthews wouldn’t be sharing that backup time with anyone. Bayless, by now, has proved he’s not a point guard. He’d have to be gone along with Fernandez, whose departure at this point is virtually guaranteed.

I believe Portland already has a deal in the works. For a point guard. And thus Andre Miller would also most likely be included in the deal, which would move it up to the status of a major trade. This would be the big move we’ve been waiting for out of the Trail Blazers for the last two seasons. But it would also be a trade they’d likely not feel comfortable with unless they’ve already got a Roy backup in their pockets.

Why a point guard? I’m asked that all the time because people love what Miller did for the team last season. But the fact is, Miller’s too old to be the guy to lead this team through its window of opportunity. And not the right guy to play alongside Roy, either. You need someone who can shoot the ball a lot better than that if you are going to stick with Nate McMillan’s system of no ball movement and little player movement.

Who would come in this direction?

Again, speculation here. I have no idea if this is real. You may have your own guesses. But my guess would be it would come from a group that includes Devin Harris, Chris Paul, Mo Williams or Jason Terry.

Portland’s already made it known it likes Harris and Paul. Williams, there has been speculation for a month now Portland has talked to Cleveland about him — and the Cavs are in a position where they must turn one good player into two or three decent ones. Williams, too, can really shoot it from distance and would be compatible with Roy — and the Blazers seem stuck on the concept of Roy with the ball in his hands and the point guard being a shooter.

And Terry? Well,he’s a little old at 33, but the Blazers sent Martell Webster to Minnesota a few days ago. They’re down one in the “former Seattle-area stars” department, right?

Again, your guess is as good as mine here and I’ve probably missed a name or two. Feel free to offer your own suggestion. And really, at least this concept explains what was, at first glance, a difficult move to understand.

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Well, to me, this deal is pretty incredible. Once again, the Trail Blazers overpaid for a free agent — front-loading a deal for one who could end up never playing for them. And yes, once again he’s with the Utah Jazz. And I do believe, after much hand wringing, the Jazz will match this offer sheet.

But how would he fit in Portland?

Not bad — if a couple of other things happen. First, Matthews is an outstanding defender with a nice upside. I could see him being very solid as a long-term replacement, should Roy go down with another knee injury. Kid’s got a lot of upside and could someday be a starting two-guard in the NBA.

But in the near term, he’s going to get a lot of money and you don’t give that kind of dough to a guy who isn’t going to play at least a lot of backup minutes. Which, to me, foreshadows other Blazer dealings.

We’ve known since the end of last season that Rudy Fernandez is history. He’s gone. I believe if Matthews ends up  in Portland, it also means Jerryd Bayless will be dealt. We already know Bayless is not a point guard. I figured if he played much this season, it would be as Roy’s backup. But with Matthews on hand, that has to eat into Bayless’s minutes.

I hear from all over that the Blazers are still looking to trade for a point guard. Andre Miller, Bayless and Fernandez would probably be included in that deal — just as they were in the ill-fated trade for Chris Paul.

This is shaping up to be one interesting summer of change.

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Several sources within the league confirmed that this morning.

It’s considered dead, though, as New Orleans continues to shop him around, trying to see what his value might be. Apparently the Hornets are the ones who backed away from the Portland trade.

No surprise. I think it would be ridiculous for New Orleans to deal Paul, by the way. Talk about devaluing a franchise that’s already in a bit of trouble… without Paul it may as well move to Seattle.

If New Orleans was just looking to save money, Portland would be a great trade partner — it has Joel Przybilla and Andre Miller’s expiring contracts to barter, as well as a few young players that could fill roles.

If that trade gets made, would it save Kevin Pritchard’s job? Not sure. I would doubt it — if they’ve come to a decision to fire you, I think you’re going to get fired. And I mean, it’s not as if — at this point or maybe ever — he’s operating in a vacuum. The owner would be deeply involved from the start on a trade of this magnitude and everyone in the league knows Paul is being shopped — if just to assess his value. It’s not as if Pritchard would have unearthed a treasure that no one else knew was available.

All that said, getting Paul into a Blazer uniform would be a huge move. Putting him with Brandon Roy (assuming Roy could learn to function alongside him), LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden would mean an outstanding core of a championship future.

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Chris Paul wide open at the end of a game for the eventual game-winner? The ball in Jerryd Bayless’s hands in the waning seconds for a jump shot? That’s what we saw last night. And in the end, the Trail Blazers gave back one of those hard-fought road wins they got last week.

Ugh.

Paul got open in a bit of a freaky play, falling down — and apparently out of sight — before getting up and finding himself open for what amounted to a free throw to win the game. It was like one of those football plays where the tight end goes to the ground as if to block and then gets up and into a pass pattern.

Then the Trail Blazers inbound to Bayless — way out almost near the halfcourt line. Now Brandon Roy might be able to get you a makeable shot in that situation — since just about any shot is makeable for Roy — but Bayless? Well, if he isn’t going to attempt to get the ball to the basket, I’m not sure I like his chances with a jump shot.

But that game was lost in the minutes before those last two possessions. The Trail Blazers, no doubt fatigued from their trip, didn’t seem to have enough energy to finish. Andre Miller, especially, seemed to have nothing left in the tank.

Next time around, I’d love to see Martell Webster or Rudy Fernandez get that final shot, by the way. It was another excruciating loss, quite obviously. And with the upcoming schedule, there may be more to come.

The All-Star break can’t get here soon enough for this team. It needs a few days off.

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It’s Insider Only content but the link is here. Yes, Oden is No. 20 — in the entire league. Among all players. PER is an efficiency rating system that’s accepted by many as the best way to rate players’ all-around contribution to their teams. No. 1 is Chris Paul, by the way.

Next highest Trail Blazer in the rankings is Brandon Roy at No. 44. The only true center ahead of Oden is Dwight Howard at No. 14. Oden’s usage rate (the number of possessions he uses per 40 minutes) is appreciably lower than anyone higher than him on the list.

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Over and over I keep hearing that from my friends around the league. Portland, they say, is trying to get up among the top five or six picks. The Blazers are chasing somebody at the top of the draft.

I keep thinking it’s Stephen Curry. I’ve said that before. He makes sense for them — a star-quality shooter to play alongside Brandon Roy. But a thought occured to me last night:

What if they’re going after Curry — or Rubio or someone else — for another team? What if they’ve got New Orleans convinced that if it can replace Chris Paul’s massive salary with a rookie salary that Curry or Rubio would serve the team just as well in the long run and help the team stay in business through tough economic times? Or what if Phoenix is wanting a big name to soften the blow to its fans for shipping Steve Nash to Portland?

Some NBA teams are going through some difficult financial times and Portland is in a position to take on salary. Could drafting one of these players lead to a lopsided deal in Portland’s favor?

I don’t know. It’s just one more thing to think about as we get inside a week before the draft. The Blazers are creative and gutsy — and I just don’t think they are going to get through this draft without a big move.

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Coming from 20 points behind to beat New Orleans on the road. Wow. Chris Paul getting hurt had nothing to do with it. At all. I’m sure. Positive.

It could be one of those seasons, folks. If I were Dirk Novitsky, I’d be real careful Wednesday.

UPDATE: Did the Blazers win that game or did the Hornets lose it? Here’s the headline on the front page of espn.com:

 Paul hurt as Hornets let Blazers rally for win

Ouch.

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