Allen sets

the tone

at dinner

JOE FREEMAN

TUALATIN --After engaging in tangible talks down to the final seconds of Thursday's NBA trading deadline, Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard decided against shaking up the second-youngest roster in the league.

Amare Stoudemire? Nah.

Gerald Wallace . . . Richard Jefferson . . . Vince Carter? Not so much.

Instead, Wednesday's yawn-inducing trade of seldom-used forward Ike Diogu for oft-injured Michael Ruffin will go down as the Blazers' only move leading up to an anticlimactic and uneventful 2009 trading deadline.

After looking at "everything," Pritchard and his management team decided it was most prudent to hang on to the Blazers' coveted young talent --and the prized $12.7 million expiring contract of Raef LaFrentz --and fight for the playoffs with the current roster, delaying any bold splash until the offseason.

"The bottom line is that we looked at everything; this was a busy trading deadline," said Pritchard, who would not reveal any of the players he contemplated acquiring. "I can't tell you how many scenarios we went through. But at the end of the day it came down to this: We believe in this team. And I don't want to give up or give away any of our young players. And that's why we were the centerpiece of some of these (proposed) trades --because we have young, good players."

Pritchard said the Blazers "walked away" from multiple offers in the moments leading up to Thursday's noon deadline --including a "couple" that threatened the team's "culture" and "identity." He said the Blazers engaged in 30 conversations regarding a single trade proposal. He said he exchanged more than 1,000 e-mails with team owner Paul Allen the past week.

But in the end, Pritchard decided to follow some wisdom offered by Allen during a Wednesday evening dinner.

"Paul Allen . . . summed it up best, and that is, let's go to war with this team and see what they're about," Pritchard said. "We can make adjustments in the future. What we could do is make a huge mistake and give up on someone too early."

Pre-deadline trade chatter mirrored the harsh economic climate facing the nation, as most teams were more concerned about unloading salary than attaining talent. That seemingly gave the Blazers the biggest bargaining chip of all: LaFrentz's $12.7 million expiring contract, of which 80 percent is covered by insurance because he is expected to miss the entire season with an injury.

But the Blazers say the demands of other teams were too steep. Yes, teams wanted LaFrentz's contract. But they also wanted the Blazers to include some of their blossoming young players, and take back a bloated multiyear contract in return --or sometimes both. When it was all said and done, the Blazers were unwilling to handicap their future in exchange for a playoff run this season that almost certainly will end without a championship.

"What these teams were trying to do to us would have been robbery," coach Nate McMillan said. "We want to get better. We want to grow up. But it goes back to we just have to be patient, because we have built this team a certain way (and) we have some good potential."

The Blazers' roster is not only loaded with young players, but also with first-time contracts --deals with set salaries based on draft position. The reasonable contracts, coupled with the high-ceiling potential of the players, made the Blazers' roster particularly attractive in this economy. But the Blazers resisted parting with players such as Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez.

Another deterrent was timing. Pritchard has developed a reputation as a deal maker, but his moves typically revolve around draft day. Pritchard is leery of disrupting a team's chemistry just before a stretch run, particularly with a team in playoff position. The Blazers (33-20) exited the deadline in fourth place in the Western Conference --31/2 games behind second-place Denver and 21/2 games ahead of eighth-place Utah. With 29 games remaining, the race appears wide open.

"I think that we can go a long way with what we have, and maybe we get criticized because we didn't pull the trigger on Raef's deal" Pritchard said. "But what Raef's deal does is allow us to let it expire and give us some flexibility this summer."

So there was no blockbuster Thursday for the Blazers. McMillan was not given the veteran players he covets. The Blazers, who have played 18 of the past 22 games without at least one starter because of injuries, hope that Greg Oden's knee improves soon, that Martell Webster can provide a late-season boost and that Brandon Roy and the rest of the team stays healthy and sound.

The group that started the season will finish it.

"I'm ready to move forward, happy (the deadline is) over with," Roy said. "We can start trying to build and make a playoff run. I think they showed confidence in our team. It's not going to be easy. It's definitely going to be a tough 29 games. But it definitely says we believe in this team and we believe in the guys we have. I'm looking forward to finishing strong."

Joe Freeman: 503-294-5183;

joefreeman@news.oregonian.com

To read his Behind the Beat blog,

go to http://blog.oregonlive.com/

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