Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonia...91236060330.xml General manager John Nash says team's play will help determine moves as deadline approaches 01/12/04 JASON QUICK The Trail Blazers continue to be active in the trade market, and although general manager John Nash said a deal is not imminent, he did say it is "likely" the Blazers will make a trade before the Feb. 19 deadline. "We are making an effort and we have made it known to people that we are willing to deal," Nash said. "But we have also made it known that we are not conducting a fire sale. I expect that as we get closer to the deadline, teams will make their best offer. It's my experience that the best and final offers are made in the final moments." How Nash approaches the trading deadline might be determined in the Blazers' play during the next two weeks. The Blazers (16-19) have been a disappointment, and without a drastic turn in their play on the road, where they will play nine of their next 13 games, the team could be out of the Western Conference playoff race. "Where you stand and what the prospects of success are have a bearing on what you do," Nash said. In other words, if the Blazers continue to flail on the road, where they are 2-14, Nash could be more willing to trade for the future, rather than worrying about winning now. Nash also said the next two weeks are important because he can get a look at Derek Anderson, who has played the last three games after missing all but three minutes of the season with a back injury. Nash is traveling with the team on its current four-game trip solely because he wants to see it play with the full array of players. After this trip, he said he will not travel again until late in the season. "I still haven't seen the team at full strength, and although D.A. has played lately, he's not 100 percent efficient yet," Nash said. "So the next couple weeks will tell how we are as a team; it will be a more accurate test than the first couple of months." But even as Nash cautiously evaluates the team while determining which direction he will go as the deadline approaches, he has been trying to execute trades in the past month. "The bottom line is we are not satisfied with the offers made, nor are we satisfied with the rejections we have gotten," Nash said. "We proposed a lot of trades that have been turned down by other teams in the league. Those same teams may come back and change their position. It's a process." Nash would not comment on which Blazers players have been offered in trade scenarios, but he acknowledged that Rasheed Wallace has been the center of several conversations. "What we are doing is exploring all options involving all players," Nash said. "Usually, there is more interest in your best players, so it's logical to assume that there has been more interest in Rasheed than, say, Ruben Boumtje Boumtje. "But because of the size of Rasheed's contract ($17 million), his is not an easy deal to make. It would probably have to involve a multiplayer deal. Look, we don't want to trade Rasheed if it's a bad trade. We don't want to trade any player if it's a bad trade. But we have not made a decision on what we intend to do in the future (with Wallace). But obviously, we are going to have to make that decision in the not too distant future." The Phoenix Suns, who are last in the Western Conference, recently came to the conclusion that it was time to look to the future by creating salary cap room when they made a trade with the New York Knicks that included shipping out Stephon Marbury and Anfernee Hardaway. When asked if it was time for the Blazers to do the same, coach Maurice Cheeks was noncommittal. "That may be true," Cheeks said. "If that is the case, then John and (president) Steve (Patterson) and everybody involved will look at it and see that . . . but there is a lot of basketball left."
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We don't want to trade any player if it's a bad trade.</div> Liar, Wells for Person was a horrible trade. They basically improved the Grizzlies chances of getting a higher seed than us.
