Sometimes what goes on Behind the Locker Room Door should stay there:

As he is answering, Webster is squealing across the way. Blake has passed gas and Webster is calling him out.

“And he stood up to do it!” Webster laughs.

Roy joins in.

“Hey, farts need oxygen,” Roy says, imitating the motion.

It makes Roy remember a game earlier this season – he thinks it was San Antonio – when Blake dropped a bomb as the team was headed out for the opening tip. The deed was delivered at the area on the sideline where players wipe their feet on a sticky pad to make their sneakers more tacky.

“I went up to that sticky pad, and oh man, I was about to pass right out,” Roy said in his unique tone, which includes saying the last two words real quick, almost together.

Blake grins proudly at the memory.

I said it couldn’t have been any worse than Zach Randolph, who was notorious for brutal, practice-stopping gas. The players disagreed.

The title for worst ever, they say, can only be held by Raef LaFrentz.

“No, no. That’s gotta be Raef,” Aldridge said. “And he be like, ‘Yep. That’s me. Right here. Thank you. That’s me.’” All the while, Aldridge is imitating Raef by holding his hand above his head, pointing at himself.

Blake concurs, saying that Raef is the only guy who ever cleared the entire middle section of Blazer One.

“Oh man,” Roy says, his face crinkling at the memory. “I be about to jump out of that plane that day.” 

Congratulations to my pal, Jason Quick, for today’s example of what separates “Internet journalism” from the print kind. (And for the best Brandon Roy quote of the season: “Hey, farts need oxygen.” I am, though, at a loss to explain what sort of “motion” Roy was imitating.)

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Tags: Behind the Locker Room Door, Brandon Roy, Dwight Jaynes, farts, Jason Quick, Martell Webster, Portland Trail Blazers, Raef LaFrentz, Steve Blake

This site is growing much quicker than I dreamed it would — thanks to a lot of fine people linking to posts and pointing readers in this direction. That’s much appreciated. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit this humble little hut in the midst of a packed Internet.

But I have to tell you, I opened the morning paper — just a day before the trade deadine — and couldn’t find a thing in there about the Trail Blazers and their options for changing the franchise. Man, on a day when ESPN is saying Portland spoke with New Jersey about a Vince Carter for RLEC, Sergio Rodriguez and Travis Outlaw deal, there’s nothing there. (And don’t worry about the Houston side of that discussion, Tracy McGrady says today his season is over — he needs knee surgery).

All I can tell you is to keep your computer on, surf a little and you’ll get your fix of rumors, real stories and speculation all day long. Most of the rumors will never come to pass, of course. But it’s fun stuff. And everyone has an interest in reading things being written about their favorite team and its roster.

And — at a time when Kevin Pritchard is getting better offers for an expiring contract than other general managers are getting for all-star players – it’s pretty hard not to get emotionally involved as a Blazer fan, right? That’s what me and my Internet brothers and sisters are all about — information — so get as into it as you want. There’s always more out there. Always.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Portland Trail Blazers, Raef LaFrentz, Sergio Rodriguez, trades, Vince Carter

Our pal Wendell has some compelling reasons why RLEC is not going anywhere, anytime soon.

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, expiring contract, Portland Trail Blazers, Raef LaFrentz, trade, Wendell Maxey

Over a period of months or even years, you hear names tossed around. But you never really know the level of interest. Here are a few players who may appeal to the Trail Blazers in the next three weeks as we near the trade deadline. Knowing Kevin Pritchard, though, if Portland does make a trade, it will probably be someone we haven’t even thought about. So here are a few names, out of left field, to add to the speculation:

Richard Jefferson, Milwaukee. Loads of playoff experience and still only 28 years old. A career 47 percent shooter who can get you 20 points and five rebounds a game at small forward. A tough guy who could provide leadership and scoring.

Andre Miller, Philadelphia. Still only 32 and not necessarily a prototype point guard. For years a miserable three-point shooter he’s improved a little this season. Always kills the Blazers — a smart player who can score and set people up. Plays bigger than he is.

Caron Butler, Washington. At 28, took a little longer than Jefferson to reach his peak. Not a great shooter, but a 20-point-per-game scorer with decent assist numbers for a small forward and a pretty good competitor who seems to improve each season.

John Salmons, Sacramento. A late bloomer at 29 whose career got off to a very slow start in Philadelphia. He’s turned into a pretty good scorer in Sacramento who is a little small at 6-6 to play small forward. Rumors out of Sacramento say the Blazers are interested but I couldn’t verify that.

The obvious chip the Blazers have to trade is the Raef LaFrentz contract. Above that, though, I would think they might be willing to finally send Travis Outlaw down the road. Man, even though he can score in bunches, he must drive the coaches crazy with his lack of attention on the boards and on defense.

One of those point guards has to go, too, and the obvious one is Sergio Rodriguez, although I believe the front office is terrified he’s going to go somewhere else and turn into a star.

My guess is, Portland wants more toughness. And toughness doesn’t necessarily have a position — so keep that in mind in your trade speculation. We all know David Lee, for example, doesn’t really fit here because of the makeup of the roster with all those bigs already on hand. But Lee’s ferocity fits — and that’s what the Blazers might be looking for.

The real challenge, if you deal Sergio or Travis, is to make sure you get something in return who is going to be a better player than the one you traded away. Both those players have enough upside potential to scare you a little bit about letting them go.

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Tags: Andre Miller, Caron Butler, David Lee, Dwight Jaynes, John Salmons, Kevin Pritchard, Portland Trail Blazers, Raef LaFrentz, Richard Jefferson, Travis Outlaw

Had no idea this was in the works… but could the Blazers be interested in a long-term investment in this kid? He’s reportedly only 75-85 percent back from a devastating knee injury. But he’s also still only 23 years old.

This would be something of a gamble, but it certainly fits with the team’s trend of having a rosterful of players who’ve recently been surgically repaired.

Speaking of which, a lot of Blazer fans today are asking this question: What’s with Raef waiting all this time for the operation on his shoulder? Well, at least according to this source, most labrum tears don’t require surgery. You rest them first to see if that helps. My question is how he suffered the injury in the first place. It didn’t seem as if he played enough to get hurt.

Well, his value here has always been as a trade piece, anyway. Sad to say, because at one time he was a pretty good player. Now he’s just a salary-cap number. Even before the injury, if someone made a trade for him, it would be only for his expiring contract.

(thanks to reader Erik for the Livingston tip)

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Raef LaFrentz, salary cap, Shaun Livingston, torn labrum, Trail Blazers