It should. But I doubt it, because Nate McMillan is a little more stubborn than that.

In Memphis, Portland is facing a team that has some offensive firepower and I think it would be a mistake to set the defense up with Brandon Roy on Rudy Gay, Andre Miller on O.J. Mayo and Steve Blake on Mike Conley. That’s pretty much three mismatches favoring the home team.

I would especially worry about Roy against Gay, who might be able to manhandle Roy a bit and be pretty physical with him. I think this is the exact kind of matchup problem that makes the three-guard lineup problematical. Under normal circumstances, you’d have Martell Webster taking on Gay, Roy matching up with with Mayo and Miller taking Conley — much more favorable if you’re really emphasizing defense.

We shall  see. It shapes up as a road trip full of winnable games for Portland. And don’t forget, “Talkin’ Ball” shows are on after every game of this road trip — starting about a half hour after the end of the game.

Tweet This Post

Tags: Andre Miller, Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, Portland Trail Blazers, Rudy Gay, Steve Blake

I got more than one of these emails last night just minutes after the draft lottery results were announced on ESPN:

“So Memphis drafts second and takes Ricky Rubio . . . doesn’t that mean Mike Conley is now available?”

There’s the fact that Portland was rumored to be intersted in Conley for quite a while (remember the proposed Travis Outlaw-for-Conley deal earlier in the season?) and, of course, all that stuff about him being Greg Oden’s pal and a guy who might possibly motivate Oden.

My initial reaction is positive. I didn’t see much in Conley until Lionel Hollins took over that team last year. Immediately, Hollins put the ball in Conley’s hands, showed confidence in him and allowed him to blossom. Conley was up to that task.

I think Conley has shown he’s going to be a decent NBA player and there are lots of trade possibilities with the Grizzlies — although possibly icy relations between the front offices after the Darius Miles fiasco.

But what about Rubio? Is it possible that Memphis could decide it would rather hold onto Conley, trade the No. 2 pick (it’s going to be either Rubio or Blake Griffin) for a package of players that would allow them to improve a lot quicker than by adding an 18-year-old point guard?

Would the Blazers, who want to start adding experience to a team that’s emerging, be interested in an 18-year-old point guard? In the case of Rubio, considered a special player since he was 15, the answer would probably be a very loud yes.

(By the way, the Blazers somehow landing Rubio would cause massive strokes among basketball fans in Spain. They do NOT think Sergio and even Rudy have gotten a fair shake here from Nate McMillan and would die if Rubio ended up here, too.)

Maybe the Rubio/Conley scenario is what Kevin Pritchard meant yesterday on The Morning Sports Page (95.5 The Game) when he went on the air and said, “We’re not AT the lottery, but it doesn’t mean we’re not IN the lottery.”

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Conley, NBA Draft Lottery, Portland Trail Blazers, Ricky Rubio

Sam Smith, who has retired from the Chicago Tribune, is now writing a column for the Website of the team he covered for many years, the Chicago Bulls. In this installment (way down at the end), Sam’s reporting that the Trail Blazers have offered Travis Outlaw for Memphis point guard (and old Greg Oden teammate) Mike Conley. Sam seems to think that’s not enough to get Conley but I’d say it’s more than enough.

Conley hasn’t played a minute during the fourth quarters of his team’s last two games. The coaching staff in Memphis seems to favor Kyle Lowry at crunch time. And Memphis won’t take Travis Outlaw — a guy who beat the Grizzlies in Memphis at the buzzer last season – for a point guard the coaches won’t use in the fourth quarter?

By the way, maybe this is why Travis was pushed into the starting lineup at the last minute ahead of Nicolas Batum. Was it showcase time?

Tweet This Post

Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Conley, Nicolas Batum, Portland Trail Blazers, Sam Smith, Travis Outlaw