I have totally pooh-poohed this kind of thing for weeks now. But Sam Smith makes a decent case this week about the Trail Blazers really having the very best sign-and-trade package for LeBron James.

Now, do I think it could happen? Seriously doubt it. The hardest part would be getting James to agree to come here. Well, the money — he could get more in a sign-and-trade — would do some of the convincing. But I was also pondering the possibility that a guy with James’ visions of becoming a billionaire might somehow be influenced by Paul Allen’s massive wealth.

Could the Blazers romance him with Allen’s yachts or other toys?

But the other advantage, should the Blazers be looking for it, would be that it would be a great opportunity to get out from under the Greg Oden draft pick. If you could trade Oden for LeBron, it would not matter if Oden someday becomes a great player or not — hey, you got LeBron for him.

Just a thought, you know.

And no, I’m not as big a LeBron James fan as most people. The guy has some problems as a player. But come on, you’ve got a chance to win with the guy every year. And it’s instant media attention world-wide for the franchise.

And as far as the Trail Blazers are concerned, who on this team WOULDN’T you trade for LeBron? And for Cleveland, Portland offers by far the best package.

Now don’t go all crazy on me, here, I’m not saying it’s going to happen. But what I am saying is that if you’re doing your job as the general manager of this team, you really do have to visit this possibility.

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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?

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