Making for a slightly weaker Western Conference. Though not by much.

I couldn't help but think of Sam Bowie. Poor Trailblazers, they weren't necessarily going to make the playoffs but that is one year lost on building cohesion with their young core players.

Ouch that has to hurt, didn't the Blazers trade away Randolf as well? They are going to be shooting from the outside a lot this year, and hoping that there are no rebounds.

Yeah, this really sucks for both Portland and the NBA. Ah well... hopefully Oden can come back like Amare Stoudamire did, and there is the albeit painful bonus of getting another top pick in NEXT year's draft too.

Hopefully the next year of pain will be worth it. Ow.

I saw this on tv last night, AND I thought the Clippers were unlucky! Oden wasn't going to make the Blazers a contender, but he was going to make them formidable.