I always laugh when I see another team pursuing a washed up or ineffective veteran player to fill out their roster, with the outside hope that “things will be different” and that “we can get him to live up to all that potential he had coming into the league.”

Now, it looks like I’m going to be laughing at myself all season, because the Blazers are slowly become that team.

Why do I say that?  Am I overreacting, or is there really something suspicious going on here?  Let’s look at the facts.

This summer, the Blazers acquired Sasha Pavlovic from the Boston Celtics.  He hasn’t been productive in years and will most likely be glued to the end of the Blazers bench this season if he ends up making the team.

They also acquired veterans Jared Jeffries and Ronnie Price.  I actually kind of like them both, but I’m not sure if either is ready to take on the kind of diminished role they are likely to see on this team.

Then, they invited the infamous Adam Morrison to training camp, and to top it all off, there is a rumor floating around that the team is interested in the even more infamous Eddy Curry, who is reportedly in the best shape of his career.

Don’t forget, this is the team that also had Hasheem Thabeet on the roster for part of last season…

What does it all mean?

I take it as a bit of a mixed bag, and the results will probably end up somewhat the same.  Chances are Morrison will probably get cut, and I think it’s unlikely that this young team will end up with a guy of questionable character in Curry.

I don’t understand the Pavlovic signing, and I feel like there are better roster filler guys out there for the same price.  Price and Jeffries may end up being valuable if there are any injuries to key guys for long stretches, and also as mentors to the younger players, which is probably why they were brought in.

The Blazers’ roster this season is a mix of semi-washed up veteran guys and young talent with loads of potential…should be interesting.

Apr 6, 2012; Dallas, TX, USA; Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) waits for play to resume against the Dallas Mavericks during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Trailblazers defeated the Mavericks 99-97 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE

During LaMarcus Aldridge’s first couple seasons as a pro in Portland, I have to admit that there really wasn’t a whole lot to make me even consider a question such as this one.  Brandon Roy was the team’s unquestioned leader, and soon after the arrival of Roy and Aldridge, the Blazers also drafted Greg Oden.  Everyone had high hopes that Portland had lucked into their own “Big Three”, building through the draft, though it seemed that most people would have positioned Aldridge as the third member of that group at the time.

Fast forward to today.

Move through the ups and downs, the injuries, the disappointments, the good times and the bad, the memorable and the downright crushing, and we are left with…LaMarcus.  Brandon Roy may yet reinvent himself with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but injuries have robbed him permanently of the lofty ceiling he once possessed as an NBA player.  Greg Oden has yet to play a full NBA season, and may never do so.  I love both of those guys, but the disappointment of losing your presumed top two cornerstones to injury is so hard. The thought of never being able to see that long sought after Big Three together and healthy for any length of time is something most Blazer fans would simply like to forget about, and just move on.

Which leads us to Aldridge, and the question I posed in the title to this article.

It never ceases to amaze me how we go into seemingly every NBA season now with the hopes that Aldridge will finally get his due, but it never quite seems to materialize in the way that it should.  Kevin Love and Blake Griffin are the flashy up-and-comers whom most NBA fans seem to recognize and heap praise on. And although Aldridge is every bit as good (and probably better) than both of them, he never seems to get the respect he deserves.  Maybe that’s due in part to growing up in the NBA with Roy and Oden as far more recognizable teammates, but if so, the time for that is past.  Last season, the Blazers cut the cord with their past, and chose to move into a new era that has Aldridge as the central figure.

He’s not alone, of course.  Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard should be good if not great at the NBA level, and Nicolas Batum still has room to grow and talent to exploit (he and Lillard are nearly the same age).  How this team’s young talent develops will determine how far they can rise into the Western Conference rankings in the years to come.

Sometimes perception is just as important as numbers when you talk about someone having an MVP-type season.  While Griffin and Love may put up bigger numbers, neither guy is as good as Aldridge on defense, and his arsenal of offensive attacks is far more vast than what either of his counterparts has to offer. Part of that is due to having more years in the league to develop, but because of Aldridge’s more well rounded game, the other two guys should not be mentioned before him in MVP talk.

Now, I’m not saying he will win an MVP, but wondering if he’s capable of having an MVP-type year.  LeBron James has to be the favorite, with Kevin Durant or Chris Paul as the runner up.  Maybe Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose can get back into the conversation once completely healthy.  That’s a tough top five to crack, and for Aldridge, it would require several things.

One: Staying healthy, which he has done well at as a Blazer these past several seasons.

Two: He probably would have to become even more of a vocal leader, on and off the court, than he already is.

Three: He’d probably need to bump his scoring average 3-4 points per game, and maybe get his rebounds up near 10 per game.

Four: His team would have to win.  With Aldridge, the Blazers have never made it past the first round of the playoffs.  The playoffs don’t factor in to the MVP race, but because the Blazers haven’t won enough during the season to have home court advantage, they seemingly always end up with very difficult first round opponents.  They would probably need to win close to 60 games, and compete for a top two or three spot in the conference, for him to be considered.

Five: Show up big in big moments.  The Blazers don’t get too many games on national TV, for various reasons, but those are the moments that need to count the most for Aldridge if he can be recognized in that MVP discussion.  People don’t see this team play on a regular basis, so when the chance comes to stand out, he has to do it.

I don’t think Aldridge cares as much about the MVP as he cares about helping his team to wins, but I think the two can go hand in hand.  With so many young players, the Blazers will need Aldridge to step his game up another level, and I think he can.

L.A. for MVP in 2013?  Maybe. L.A. as a serious candidate sometime in the next five years?  I would say yes.

Feb 1, 2012; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Elliot Williams (9) dunks against the Charlotte Bobcats at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-US PRESSWIRE

News broke on Tuesday this week that Elliot Williams, the Blazer’s promising third year guard and presumed backup to Wesley Matthews this season, tore his achilles tendon in a voluntary workout at the team’s practice facility and could potentially be out for the entire season.

It seems like some sort of cruel joke, right?

The Blazers were supposed to be done with the injury plagued seasons that had become so common.  Team management cut Greg Oden, used the amnesty on previously retired Brandon Roy, and basically tanked out the rest of the 2011-12 season in order to land a couple top draft picks and start fresh.

The injury to Elliot Williams, however, seems to indicate that the upcoming NBA season will be another one full of what if’s, not only for the Blazers, but for Williams as well.

There doesn’t seem to be any way that the team could have known they were getting someone quite so injury prone.  I assume that they knew he was going to need knee surgery and would miss his rookie season when they drafted him, but the guy didn’t even miss a game during his lone season at Memphis as a freshman.  Now he’s suffered multiple knee injures, an achilles tear and a serious shoulder injury, all in the span of less than three years.

What do we make of Elliot Williams?  Is he done already as an NBA player?

I sure hope not.  One thing that became clear last season is that, when healthy, he belongs on an NBA team.  Only time could tell us if he is starter material or not, but he showed flashes of the athleticism and offensive skill which led the Blazers to spend a first round pick on him originally.

For the 2012-13 season, the immediate impact will be the loss of a backup shooting guard with some actual NBA experience.  Will Barton, who will likely fill in the void left by Williams’ departure, has potential but will need to get stronger before he can be a consistent two-way player for the Blazers.

This is a sad day for the Blazers fans.  All we want to do is put the past behind us and rebuild around a strong core of LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and Nicolas Batum.  Now, with the specter of injury hanging over this team once again, we can only hold our breath and wonder what’s next.