The Bulls and Trailblazers send players packing

With Bonzi Wells on the team, the Portland Trailblazers were headed for the playoffs for the 21st consecutive year. This is no small feat and certainly nothing to be ashamed of -- especially in Portland where there is little else to not be ashamed of, basketball-wise.

Having a competitive playoff-caliber team that keeps the fans hooked can be a good thing. But it only works if: You can keep the fans hooked, and you actually have a legitimate shot at contending for (or are building towards) a championship.

Remember, this is professional sports; the ultimate goal is to compete for a championship year in and year out. True fans aren't happy with an organization that is content with the sixth seed and a first-round bow out every year.

As things stand now, the Blazers have no shot at winning a championship, and they know it. They haven't been out of the first round in three years and they don't stand a chance against the Shaqs and Duncans of the world, let alone against teams like the Sacramento Kings who (gasp) actually like each other and like passing to each other.

And in a town where a prominent citizen has taken out a billboard ad urging home game boycotts, it is safe to say they lost their fans somewhere along the line.

The Blazers had their shot to win a championship. It was four years ago in the 1999-2000 season, when they blew a 15 point fourth quarter lead to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, and then watched the Shaq-Kobe monster go on to corral the Indiana Pacers in the first of their three straight championship wins.

So Portland is not going to win a championship. Management knows it; the fans know it, and since the fans don't like the team anyway, the Blazers may as well start from scratch. They can try to build a team based on chemistry, a team that can compete for a championship, a team that doesn't get arrested every fourth day.

This is exactly what Portland GM John Nash is trying to do, and he proved it last week by trading Wells to the Memphis Grizzlies for veteran Wesley Person and a future number one draft pick.

The Blazers might not immediately get better, and they might not even make the playoffs this year, but Nash knew that the team could not keep going in the direction they were heading. Wells, in particular, had been on such bad behavior that the team had stripped him of his captaincy.

Expect Nash to try to follow suit with Damon Stoudamire, Rasheed Wallace, and possibly even Zach Randolph if he gets the right offer. Of course, don't expect him to get any good offers, except maybe for up and coming talent Randolph, because all those guys get paid too much and are not exactly model citizens.

As for Memphis, this trade sends the message that Jerry "I AM the NBA" West expects this team to make the playoffs this year, and there's really no reason they should not. In Wells and Pau Gasol, the Grizz can now trot out two top fifty talents in their starting lineup.

Granted, making the playoffs in the Western Conference is no sure thing. But throw in Shane Battier, Mike Miller, Jason Williams, Sharone Wright, and Stromile "I left college too early" Swift, and the Grizzlies are more stocked than a dorm room fridge.

A second trade rippled through the NBA waters when the Chicago Bulls sent Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall, and Lonnie Baxter to the Toronto Raptors for Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams, and Chris Jefferies.

For the Bulls, the trade lets Eddie Curry know that he has to start playing like he's in the NBA, because Chicago now has other options inside. For Toronto, this trade makes them downright dangerous. Rose, Marshall, and Vince Carter can all put the ball in the hoop, and covering all three will be a nightmare matchup for the rest of the Eastern Conference.

Toronto's offensive doldrums should be a thing of the past; if it can tighten up its defense and still manage to rebound without the departed forwards, Toronto should be one of the better teams in the east, for whatever that is worth.

And finally, kudos to Charles Barkley, for calling the player's union "cowardly" in its stance towards drug offenses, quite a statement from a former player. Barkley, while admitting that he has smoked marijuana before, said that when you're a professional athlete it is unforgivable to smoke pot while driving.

He was right on the money when he suggested that when players get arrested on a drug charge, the first time should mean a month in drug rehab, and the second time a season suspension. Only Major League's Baseball's steroid policy could make the NBA's drug stance look good.