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View Full Version : Blazers aren't ready to deal Abdur-Rahim



ducks
09-04-2004, 06:37 PM
Abdur-Rahim, a power forward by nature, said he was promised over the summer by Blazers general manager John Nash that he would be the starting small forward. It was not a promise Abdur-Rahim wanted to hear -- he requested a trade this summer because he wants to be a starting power forward. But Nash on Wednesday said he has no plans to trade Abdur-Rahim before the season.
And increasingly, it appears Abdur-Rahim will back off his threat of holding out of training camp if he is not traded. In a move that can be viewed as Abdur-Rahim offering an olive branch, he recently invited the Blazers' coaching staff to Atlanta to watch him work out, then joined teammates Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel in Houston for a series of pickup games.



Miles and Abdur-Rahim are expected to wage a heated competition for the starting small forward position, even though Nash said he envisions a three-forward rotation of Zach Randolph, Miles and Abdur-Rahim, with each playing about 30 minutes a game.



"We have had discussions with both Darius and Shareef about the situation," Nash said. "I think they understand what the situation is, but I don't know that either is comfortable with it. Initially, it would seem to me that they would play the same number of minutes. Who starts and who finishes is open to discussion.



"In fairness to Shareef, over the course of his career he has been a tremendous starter, but he didn't play especially well coming off the bench last year. We would like to look at him as a starter. And in Darius' case, several of the teams who talked to him expressed interest in him coming off the bench. So Darius might be able to give us energy off the bench. But there has been no season-long commitment made here."

Randolph can avoid being charged for lying to Anderson, Ind., police regarding an Aug. 22 nightclub shooting if he gives a statement this week detailing what he saw. Madison (Ind.) County prosecutor Rodney Cummings met with Randolph's Indianapolis-based attorney and Atlanta-based agent on Wednesday, and they assured Cummings that Randolph would cooperate. Randolph's younger brother, Roger, has been charged with three felony counts in the shooting. . . . Nash said the Blazers have no interest in trading Randolph, even though six teams have called him since the Aug. 22 incident. "Zach is a hot commodity who lots of teams would love to have," Nash said. "We don't want to react in a knee-jerk fashion.
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