I've kind of held things up for a day because I wanted to get a better 
gauge on the Rockets/Spurs series.  Since it looks like Houston will
win, I'm makeing a judgement call here and proceeding with the trade
of Houstons first round pick to the Blazers as part of the Clyde Drexler
trade.

The Blazers are represented again by:

    Simon Cushing  

and he selects:

    Sherell Ford, SF, 6-7.  Illinois-Chicago

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TEAM NEEDS:

Let's assume the Blazers let their scrubs go, and fail to re-sign Terry Porter
and Mark Bryant, but do sign Arvidas Sabonis and Gary Trent (my previous 
pick).  That makes the roster look like this:

CENTRES:
  Arvidas Sabonis - Huge, slow, skillful.
  Chris Dudley - Medium-sized, a great banger and rebounder
Assessment: Pretty damn good if Sabonis pans out.  Old, but that can be taken
	care of another year.  Both Thorpe and Clifford have also played a good
	deal of centre in their careers.
FORWARDS:
  Otis Thorpe - Pretty old, but in great shape.  Good scorer and rebounder.
  Buck Williams - The heart of the team, still an excellent rebounder and post
	defender at 34.
  Cliff Robinson - Led the team in scoring, multi-talented and can defend.
	Average rebounder and sometimes inconsistent.
  Gary Trent - We shall see.  A future megastar with any luck!
  Harvey Grant - Soft jumpshooter, but game defender.  Overpaid.
  Jerome Kersey - WILDLY overpaid, old, but ferocious competitor.
Assessment: Well stocked, in fact TOO well.  Expect Otis and possibly Harvey
	or even Clifford to be traded for guard help.
GUARDS:
  Rod Strickland - One of the top PGs in the country.  HATES PJ.
  Aaron McKie - Solid journeyman Doc Rivers-type.  Shooting needs improvement
	and a little short for 2G.  Should have a good upside.
  James Robinson - World class athlete.  No brain.  Too short, and a much 
    worse shooter than he apparently realises.  Can't defend.
Assessment: HELP!  The only high quality guard of the _3_ here is Rod Strick-
	land, who wants out because he hates the coach.  Need size and reliable
	shooting, as well as a backup PG.

PLAYER CHOSEN:

Sherell Ford of Illinois-Chicago.
"But why!?" you cry.  "He's a small forward, and you need guards desparately!"
Well, I think he can be made into a shooting guard.  He has good size and a
good shot.  Clyde Drexler was a small forward at first, and he panned out all
right.  Ford is my chance at mock-draft glory: I think he'll be taken earlier
in the real draft, and might even be this year's Eddie Jones.  Of course, if
I was REALLY brave, I'd take Brent Barry, who is more like Jones in build, and
can pass well, I'm told.  But I'm not, so Ford it is.

OTHERS CONSIDERED:

Brent Barry - was MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational and won the slam-dunk
	contest there, and starred on very poor Oregon State teams, but was
	injured in the Desert Classic (which is a greater test than Ports-
	mouth, involving probably 1st-or-high-second rounders) in which
	Sherell Ford beat out Michael Finley, Lawrence Moten, Lou Roe, 
	Travis Best, etc. for overall MVP).
Lawrence Moten - the infamous timeout aside, a great college scorer, but not
	a wonderful defender or ball-handler, and a little light.
Tyus Edney - very small, but VERY fast.  Plays under great control at great
	speed.  If he was 6 feet, I'd snap him up.
Jerome Allen - sounds too similar to Aaron McKie, but shot even worse in col-
	lege.  Would make the Blazers a team with 2 Ivy-Leaguers!
Cory Alexander - a huge gamble.  Injury-prone, but could be a star.  A gutsier
	GM than I would take him.

OTHER MOVES:

We need guard help BADLY.  Getting a half-decent backup PG is a high priority,
and I'd target Elliot Perry (cut from Blazers' trading camp 2 seasons ago),
Haywoode Workman, Gary Grant or Spud Webb amongst the UFAs, in that order.
(Webb is better than 4th, but might cost too much.)  Or, if we trade, I like
Robert Pack back, as apparently he is out of favour in Denver, or possibly
Terell Brandon from Cleveland (a local boy) although they're unlikely to give 
him up now that Mark Price is on the decline.  We could also use some good
three-point threats, given that Drexler and Porter will be gone, and if
Sabonis is good, there'll be plenty of open looks for perimeter shooters.
Cliffy shot well from outside this year, but I'd rather have him posting up.
Maybe the Knicks would give us Hubert Davis?

Players I think may be playing for other teams next November: possibly any
of them!  Otis Thorpe is very likely to be gone, but Rod may also be traded,
and Cliffy would be shipped for a good offer.  "Trader Bob" didn't acquire
that name by accident...  I think a Thorpe-for-Gill trade is very possible,
in which case I'd set about trying to make Aaron McKie a backup PG, and have
him and Ford come off the bench in the backcourt.  McKie showed signs that he
might be capable - he logged a 10-assist game this season while playing 2G.
I don't think James Robinson can ever be a PG, although he is only about 6'1".
If anyone would give us a decent journeyman guard for him, I'd be delighted.

But the #1 change that MUST happen this summer for the Blazers to succeed, is:
PJ MUST GO!  EVERYBODY is rumoured to hate the guy, although only Rod has come
out and said it.  He is a control freak and frankly a poor coach.  He is fast
becoming a laughing-stock around the league, too, as the following by Mark
Jones on ESPNet shows:
(Craig: if you don't want to post this, just replace the above with "as the
feature article "Sophomore Sweep In The Draft?" on ESPNet details")

   Hey P.J. ... can we talk?
   On the next Geraldo ... "Players who love to hate their coaches,"
   starring the Portland Trail Blazers. If Portland coach P.J. Carlesimo
   asks you to start his car for him, don't do it. He's got tons of
   enemies, players and coaches alike. One player tells me that, "we
   never know whether we're going to play or not. P.J. is a control
   freak. He loves to tell you what you did wrong after the fact."
   
   His coaching was suspect in the playoffs, too. He used the same
   double-teaming scheme that failed five times against Phoenix in the
   regular season. As for his assistants coaches? Dick Harter is looking
   to get out because he figures P.J. didn't listen to him enough. How
   much input does P.J. give his assistants? Here's the answer: Portland
   players had to be treated for shock when Johnny Davis ran part of
   practice during the playoffs. The convulsions stopped yesterday.
   
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