Even thought it cost us big-time, I absolutely loved the Kiki trade. Hey, didn't he score, like, 50 for us soon after becoming a Blazer?
There were so many at various points that were good... Damon was great. He was a rising star. He supposedly was headed to Houston, done deal. Several teams stepped in, including Portland. Portland was considered the least likely of those involved, but Trader Bob got it done a week after everyone thought the deal with Houston was done. To this day, I never believe a deal is done until a player plays a game with his new team. Rasheed was better. We got Sheed a year removed from him being drafted. We traded up to No. 8 in his draft, and tried to deal the No. 8 plus Rod Strickland for Washington's No. 4. No dice. We supposedly wanted Sheed or KG. A year later, we essentially made the same deal. And Sheed exploded. All the rage towards him in the end, I think, was caused by his lack of desire. Dude was better than TD if he wanted. Those battles with Webber. HUGE. I lived for those games. But he never wanted the level of fame and attention he got here. Too bad, cuz he could have stayed here, lived up to even half his potential, and left the game one of the greats, and his shit would be branded in gold. This city loved and embraced him and wanted him to rule the roost. Too bad he didn't care to. But that summer we acquired him was so fun. We drafted The Kid, traded for Sheed, traded for low Rider (for J-Robinson, HAHAHAHA), and signed Kenny Anderson. Buck Williams was sweet. Those few years he played here in Portland were nothing short of solid. He played a huge role on some of the best teams in franchise history. I'll never forget that rebound against Phoenix. Looking back, he's the one reason that drafting Bowie wasn't the worst move ever in the NBA. I've met him several times, and let me tell you, dude is as classy as they come. Scottie Pippen was another that was amazing. People say he rode MJ's coattails. But how many titles did MJ win without Pippen? How many guys with his height had his ability to handle the ball and move the offense? Acquiring him for 800 scrubs let me know that a good GM can get you anything your team desires. Trader Bob ended up his own worst enemy, but this deal was amazing no matter how you slice it. TB at his finest.
I'd say that THIS trade was one of Portland's best: August 1, 1990: Traded by the Sacramento Kings to the Portland Trail Blazers for Byron Irvin, a 1991 1st round draft pick (Pete Chilcutt) and a 1992 2nd round draft pick (Brett Roberts). Any guesses? Played with Portland in the 1992 NBA Championship Series versus the Bulls. Scored 9 points in an NBA Finals "overtime period" versus the Bulls! Born: Eugene, OR
Since the new era, I would think when Sheed got traded for Abdur Rahim. We were all waiting on pins and needles for Sheed to get traded. We all thought SAR was a great trade.
1. The claiming of Maurice Lucas from the ABA. 2. The trade for Buck Williams. 3. The trade of draft picks that netted us Brandon Roy. 4. The trade of Jarrett Jack for Jarryd Bayless.
It was a good trade, in the sense that we got a decent player for almost nothing. Sadly, what we didn't get was the Ainge who had played in Boston. By the time he reached Portland, he was just a merc playing for a check. The pride, fire, and loyalty of his Celtic days just wasn't there anymore. Heck, instead of being happy to come "home", he couldn't wait to leave again as a free agent.
Worse move ever: The release/trade of Moses Malone after he had 20 rebounds (in almost just the first half) in a pre-season game in 1976. I listened to that game on the radio and couldn't believe what I was hearing. We'd never had a player like that before and we just let him go for nothing. We already had Walton and Lucas, so the Blazers said they didn't have anywhere to play him.
We didn't all think so. Quite a few of us thought the Blazers sold low on Sheed. The Pippen trade was when I became a Portland fan, as I was more of a general NBA fan before that who's favourite player was Pippen. So that probably doesn't count, as I wasn't excited as a Portland fan when the trade happened. As a Portland fan, I'm sad to say I was probably most excited by the Shawn Kemp trade. I didn't think he was anything like the Seattle version, but he had just come off a few seasons with Cleveland where he scored between 17-20 PPG and got 8-9 RPG. I thought he'd be an amazing player to bring off the bench. I still think it was hard to see his total collapse coming. His play in Cleveland was uninspired but still very productive.
Yep, the Damon trade was awesome at the time. He was recently coming off his ROY campaign, and it was pretty exciting to see the hometown boy back. And yep, Pippen had to be next. I still can't believe Scottie Pippen was a Trail Blazer to this day. Loved Pip.
The Bay Area in California. I actually started out as a Lakers fan because my dad was and I started watching basketball, as a kid, with him. He was a Lakers fan and basketball fan entirely due to Magic Johnson and when Johnson retired, he lost interest in basketball itself. After I was no longer watching with him (I was 13 when Magic retired the first time), I really didn't have a team, so I just watched basketball without much rooting interest...I just had players I liked, especially Pippen. I never really caught on as a Bulls fan or Rockets fan, but for some reason did as a Blazers fan which has clearly lasted beyond Pippen's career in Portland.
+1 I was quite excited by this trade......but an overweight, washed up Kemp is all we got! Too bad. ........and giving up on Moses Malone may truly be THE worst move made by the Blazers. Simply was never assessed as we won a Championship that very year....but we all know how Moses Malone turned out!
Werd. About 3 times in my life, my friends, brother and I have asked the drunken long night shit shooting question: "How many people in the world do you think there are that are Blazer fans, who have no logical connection to the area, city or state?" And then we all guess a number between 1000 and 1200 So far you and Mixum are the only 2 I've come across. Secondly, why do you spell favorite.... "favourite?" That was the other reason I asked where you were from. Are you just super continental?
I'll never forget the trade for 'sheed... the bullets had, at the time, i believe Wallace, Webber, and either Juwan Howard or Calbert Cheaney (or both?)... the teaser on the radio was "Blazers trade for Bullets' PF" and my older brother and I were all thinking we had just gotten Chris Webber.
