Geesh, enough about the 15th roster spot. Kevin Pritchard and Nate McMillan got to pick the first 14 players, isn’t it OK if Paul Allen, who is picking up the tab for all this frivolity, is allowed to choose No. 15?

The more I think about it, keeping Patty Mills is the better long-term play anyway. A year from now, he may have some value — either as a player or as a trade piece. A whole lot of people I respect a lot believe the kid can play. And given the roster logjam, it doesn’t hurt to have a guy around who isn’t ready to play.

It’s kind of funny, though, I thought it was Minnesota that was supposed to have the obsession with point guards?

I mentioned yesterday that I thought having so many players is hurting Portland’s preparation for the upcoming season. I firmly believe that to be true.

But I wouldn’t want that to be construed as thinking the Blazers won’t eventually find themselves. I believe they will but it may be quite a few games into the regular season.

I’ve seen good teams muddle through the exhibition season and then take off as soon as the real games start. It’s hard to motivate veteran players for exhibition games. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for this bunch. There are too many young players trying to figure out where they belong in the league.

But it’s going to happen for them. It might take a month — maybe even two. It might take an injury or two to thin the roster down. But there is too much talent here to expect the team to struggle for more than about 25 games.

And while it’s so easy to look at the offense and find fault, it’s still the defense that’s the most troubling. The Blazers so far have not improved at all from last season on the defensive end of the floor. And to get anywhere, they’ve got to tighten up — a lot. What we’ve seen so far just isn’t anywhere close to as good as they’ll need to get past the first round of the playoffs.

That’s why I expect Nic Batum and Greg Oden in the starting lineup when the season starts. They’re solid at the defensive end. And if that happens, the real intrigue will be as Oden introduces the New Greg to the real referees, assuming they’re back by then. He needs to start getting respect from those guys. If he does, the Blazers will be changed a great deal.

For the better.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Ime Udoka, Jarron Collins, Kevin Pritchard, Nate McMillan, Patty Mills, Paul Allen, Portland Trail Blazers

Jason Quick is reporting that on 95.5 The Game, although I can’t yet find it at Oregonlive.com.

If that’s the case, I’d say one of two things has happened:

– Paul Allen doesn’t want to pay the veteran’s minimum to Ime or Collins and would prefer to save money with Mills and the paltry second-round minimum. You could get on Paul for that, but the guy has spent so much money on this team I wouldn’t blame him. After all, it is the 15th roster spot. A lot of teams don’t even keep 15.

– Paul likes Mills and would rather keep him than the other two. Don’t discount this possibility. Paul Allen pays attention to this stuff. He likes to think he’s a decent judge of talent.

I would also say this: In a year, Mills is likely to have a whole lot more value to the franchise than either of the other players.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Ime Udoka, Patty Mills, Portland Trail Blazers

I turn around and wow — all of a sudden the Ducks are a top 25 team again, the Beavers can’t beat one of the worst teams in the Pac-10, the Vikings blow another game and the Seahawks are wearing home uniforms that look like cheap ripoffs of the old Portland Storm gear.

I’m going to show up at the Trail Blazer media day this afternoon and see what happens next. I mean, Jawan Howard and Ime Udoka might show up.

And I thought I picked a sleepy time of the year to take some time out of town.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Ime Udoka, Jawan Howard, Oregon Ducks, Oregon State Beavers, Seattle Seahawks