Jan. 6, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews during game against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Trail Blazers 102-77. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

As all 30 teams prepare for the 2013 NBA Draft, each will have tough decisions ahead of them. For Portland, one of these decisions revolves around starting shooting guard, Wesley Matthews. The Blazers currently hold what will likely be the 10^th first round pick, but sources indicate that they may be looking to move up so they can draft Indiana’s Victor Oladipo. Oladipo is considered a top 5 prospect, and a very talented defensive guard.

This potential move would more than likely leave Wesley Matthews with a one-way ticket out of Portland. There is little sense in drafting a guard of Oladipo’s caliber just to bring him off of a crowded bench; and even less sense in benching Matthews to avoid such an option. Wesley is certainly valuable enough to receive some attention in the trade market, so who might be looking to make a deal?

The Phoenix Suns are projected to get the 4^th pick in the draft lottery, right around where Oladipo will likely be selected. With the 3^rd worst 3PT% in the NBA and a roster that seems compiled in the dark, Matthews would bring much needed efficiency to their squad. Who knows? Maybe the Blazers could finagle a deal for Phoenix center, Marcin Gortat, if they put a little more on the table.

Wesley is under contract with the Blazers for two more seasons and is owed a combined $14 million for them. While not a mammoth amount by NBA standards, that is still a chunk of change worth talking about. Phoenix has the need, the resources, and the space to acquire Matthews from Portland on draft night. Although I would personally hate to see him go, it could be just what the Blazers needs.

Let me explain where I’m coming from. Although Wesley is arguably worth more to Portland than yet another rookie, the difference between a veteran and a rookie contract should be taken into account. If the Blazers can unload Matthews’ $7M contract, they will have more money to spend on free agents. A Matthews/Oladipo swap would pay dividends if the price difference allowed Portland to bring in the pieces they need. Let’s not discount Victor either; he’d pay his own in due time.

So the Blazers stand at a crossroad. They can spin the wheel of fate in the name change, or they can pass and hone their existing skills. The draft can be your best friend or your worst enemy. For Wesley Matthews, it’s dangerously disguised.

@davidmackaypdx | @ripcityproject | davidmackaypdx@gmail.com

Mar 30, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Wesley Matthews (2) controls the ball against Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The right ankle sprain that kept Wesley Matthews out of the last 5 matchups of the Blazers’ season may have been more serious than his day-to-day status suggested. Matthews suffered the injury in a contest with the Dallas Mavericks 3 weeks ago and has now been told to keep off of his foot for another 4. Fortunately for Portland, the injury occurred shortly before the season ended and Wes has plenty of time to rest up. Had he been injured earlier on, he could have missed a month and a half of play.

On the bright side, there has been no news to suggest that this injury will still be a problem by the start of the 2013-2014 season. Matthews’ starting job is secure and he is eager to return. Many consider him to be the hardest working player on the team, so I suspect he will resume basketball activities sooner than later. This is great for the Blazers, who rely on his excellent 3 point shooting and defensive hustle.

Right now, I just want him to take it easy. The days of the ‘Frail Blazers’ are not so far removed that I’ve forgotten what can go wrong. I trust him not to grow lazy and out of shape if he takes some time off, because his work ethic is unparalleled. Rest, recover, return.

@davidmackaypdx | @ripcityproject | davidmackaypdx@gmail.com

Feb. 24, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Newly acquired Portland Trail Blazers point guard Eric Maynor (6) takes a shot over Boston Celtics shooting guard Jordan Crawford (27) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won the game 92-86. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

When Terry Stotts took the podium following his Blazers’ 92-86 win over the Boston Celtics (the team’s first win in their last eight games), he kicked off his remarks by complementing his team’s play. He then said, with the kind of candor that has become one of his better trademarks, that he was shocked to find out that Portland was home to some many Boston Celtics fans.

He’s not the first one to make that claim. Two seasons ago, Dante Cunningham threw out a pretty notorious tweet complaining about the preponderance of green in the Rose Garden the night the Celtics came to town. It’s not a new thing.

Sunday night felt like a home game for both teams. Boston isn’t the only team from out of town that draws big crowds, but they’re up there with the Lakers and the Heat for biggest national fan bases around the league. So why is that important? Mostly because local fans of the team that plays 42 of its games in Portland pride themselves on being louder and more supportive than every other fan base in the NBA.

It was Wesley Matthews who made the big threes (five of them in total) and Damian Lillard who came up with the clutch and one. It was Victor Claver grabbing a season-high 10 rebounds in his first extended run of meaningful minutes. It was LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum doing what they do best. All of which put the Blazers over the top Sunday. But it was the back and forth between Celtics fans and Blazer fans that turned Sunday night into one of the best home games of the season.

The Blazers don’t have a lot of meaningful games left. There are going to be nights in March and a few in April where there are going to be better things for Portlanders to do (the Timbers season is starting for real pretty soon and the weather is getting nicer by the day). Nights like Sunday have to be remembered, if simply so we can all remind ourselves that a pretty unsuccessful season had it’s high points and that those high points weren’t so bad in and of themselves.

Possibly, though, the most important thing to take away from Sunday’s game is that this roster and these rotations are what we are going to be seeing not only for the rest of this season, but likely for next season too. Eric Maynor made his debut Sunday night and played almost 15 effective (if a little rusty) minutes. Victor Claver logged 19 and a half minutes, all of them at the stretch four. Meyers Leonard spent a nice 16 and a half minutes on the floor, blocking a shot, grabbing six rebounds, scoring three points, and only picking up two personal fouls. These are three guys that are going to help the Blazers win games in 2013-14 and beyond. That we got to see them have good nights Sunday is simply the beginning.

I know it’s a bit strange to talk about three guys (Claver, Maynor, and Leonard) who combined for nine points when talking about Sunday’s game, a game in which all five of Portland’s starters scored at least 11 points. But my larger point is this: we all know what the Blazers’ core group is capable of. We know that Wesley Matthews can catch fire and that Damian Lillard was a rookie for like the first two seconds of his career and that LaMarcus Aldridge has probably the best mid range jumper of anybody over 6’10” in the NBA and that Nicolas Batum is a poor man’s Kevin Durant which makes him better than most of the guys in the league who play his position.

What this team needs is depth, guys who can pick up the slack when Portland’s starters go to the bench. We didn’t see a take-over kind of game from anybody on the Blazers’ second unit, but we did see some consistency from the bench that this team hasn’t had before.

Does this mean that Portland is about to rattle off a dozen wins and get back into the Playoff picture? Probably not. But it does mean that there is a chance this Blazer team will have something of real value to build on in the off-season. It does mean that regardless of how the wins and losses shake out, 2012-13 wasn’t a total loss. And it does mean that we’ve very likely seen the end of Luke Babbitt and Nolan Smith, the last two major draft day misses by the Blazers. Those are all good things.

Portland wasn’t flawless on Sunday. There’s still a lot of work to be done on the defensive end, especially when it comes to giving up shooting fouls late in the shot clock, and the Blazers have yet to come up with a go-to set or play when teams start doubling hard on Damian Lillard. But just as developing solid rotations will be part of Portland’s long-term building process, adjusting to opponents locking down on Dame and playing solid team defense are two changes the Blazers will have to make if they want to win big games in the future, of which there will hopefully be many.

Portland has a bit of a break before hosting the Nuggets on Wednesday. The Blazers’ next home game will be the second of a four-game home stand. It would behoove Portland to do no worse than a split of these next four games. A sweep would be preferable considering that two of the next three games are against the Charlotte Bobcats (the worst team in the NBA) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (the worst team in the Blazers’ conference).

Box Score

Standings

Live Blog

@mikacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Feb. 24, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Wesley Matthews (2) celebrates after hitting a three point shot during the fourth quarter of the game against the Boston Celtics at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won the game 92-86. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports