Blazers hire Rich Cho as GM

Last week, Thunder assistant GM Rich Cho was flown to Finland to meet Blazers owner Paul Allen aboard his 414 ft, $200 mil yacht, the Octopus. This unbelievable boat features 2 helicopters, a submarine, basketball court, jet skis etc. Oh yeah, and it costs $20 mil a year to keep up. This link is a pdf file that has the boat's specs as well as 50 pictures of it.

Back to basketball. Cho apparently impressed Allen so much that he was hired as the teams new GM. He will replace Kevin Pritchard, who was fired right before the draft for reasons that remain unclear. Cho will take over a Blazers' team that went 50-32 last year even with a myriad of injuries. He will be challenged with turning the Blazers into legit championship contenders. As of today, this is how their depth chart looks:

PG - Andre Miller, Patty Mills (AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE, OY OY OY!)
SG - Brandon Roy, Jerryd Bayless, Rudy Fernandez
SF - Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, Luke Babbit
PF - LaMarcus Aldridge, Dante Cunningham, Jeff Pendergraph
C - Greg Oden, Marcus Camby, Joel Pryzbilla

They already have a good, young, foundation with Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Greg Oden. The Blazers' success is dependent on C Greg Oden's health. The former #1 pick has only played in 82 games over 3 seasons in the league. If he lived up to his potential, the Blazers would be very scary. Last year, before wrecking his knee again, he averaged 11 pts , 8.5 boards, and 2.3 blocks in only 23 minutes per game. Before we write off Oden as someone whose career was derailed by injuries, we must remember that Vince Carter and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were both once considered "injury prone" before remaining healthy multiple seasons in a row. I'm a believer.

The Blazers have a lot of interesting pieces surrounding their big three. If I were Cho, I would look at their situation in the following way...

Brandon Roy often handles the ball and initiates the offense. Thus, there is no real need to for Andre Miller. A PG that can spread the floor would be a better fit. The Blazers drafted promising combo-guard Jerryd Bayless in the 2008 draft but haven't given him consistent playing time or a defined role with the team. With Marcus Camby signing for 2 more years, backup C Joel Pryzbilla should be considered expendable.

With those three pieces, I would offer the rebuilding Cavs those three players for Mo Williams and Anderson Varajao. The Cavs might be interested in Pryzbilla's defense and expiring contract ($7.4 mil), Miller $7.8 mil contract that isn't guaranteed after this season, and Bayless' potential. In Williams, the Blazers would receive a sharpshooting PG who is used to playing off the ball. Varajao, although overpaid, is a gritty, defensive minded PF who would backup Aldridge beautifully. With a depth chart of:

PG- Williams, Mills
SG- Roy, Fernandez
SF- Batum, Matthews, Babbitt
PF- Aldridge, Varajao
C - Oden, Camby

Portland would be effective both defensively and offensively. Regardless, Cho is landing himself in a good position and has plenty of flexibility to craft a championship caliber team.