http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9563 Summer league is officially in the books. New NBA free agency chapters are being written everyday around the league. But for the Portland Trail Blazers, the real story is about next year. That's when the youngest team in the league will be measured against what will easily be another stacked Western Conference. For the Blazers though – who finished 41-41 last season and welcome an impressive rookie class staring center Greg Oden, guard Rudy Fernandez and point guard Jerryd Bayless – the 2008-09 season will be a chance to showcase their legitimacy out West. "Nate (McMillan), myself and Mr. (Paul) Allen have talked a lot about that," Portland General Manager Pritchard told HOOPSWORLD. "We have an up-and-coming team. It's just how fast they develop and right now it's about getting better. That's going to come through hard work. But I think we have a chance. I keep mentioning it to our players: some things have to fall your way. You have to create your own luck a little bit, but you also have to have some things happen." While Portland was one of seven Western Conference teams who finished on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, reaching the postseason this coming season remains a tangible goal, but is never a given. The Los Angeles Lakers may be the team to beat after venturing to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, but both Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers – two fellow teams who missed the postseason – have been feverishly busy dabbling in free agency this summer. The Clippers added point guard Baron Davis and center Marcus Camby, while forward Ronny Turiaf and guard Corey Maggette are the newest members of the Warriors. Even the Sacramento Kings who finished three wins behind Portland could make some noise. It just goes to show there is no rest for the weary in the wild-wild West. "If you are looking at home court advantage, you are well into 50 wins in the first round because there is so many good teams, and just to get into the playoffs you needed 50 (wins)," Pritchard said about last year's playoff race before focusing on the season ahead. "If you want to get into the playoffs you are looking at 50 wins again. There are injuries and other factors. It's going to be tough." Yet Portland's upside and brightest years in Rip City are certainly before them. Blazers guard Brandon Roy is coming off an impressive All-Star season where he led the team in scoring (19.1 points per game). Both forward LaMarcus Aldridge and rookie point guard Jerryd Bayless – who was named MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League - are busy preparing and practicing against the USA National Team as members of the USA Select Team in Las Vegas. Portland will also boast two suitable NBA Rookie of the Year candidates in Oden – returning from microfracture surgery – and marquee Spanish import, Fernandez. The novice tandem now gives the Blazers a true inside presence and much needed slashing guard. At least on paper the team appears for real. But will that translate to the court and the win column? "With Brandon and LaMarcus, I always felt like we have a chance to compete every single night and the best is yet to come for those two. But I also felt like - because of the way guys have been unselfish - I felt we overachieved. And as coaches, as management, as an owner; hopefully we are overachieving. That is a big thing for us," Pritchard continued. "We have this inherent vested interest in being successful. Sometimes that means I need to be hard on the guys. Sometimes Nate (McMillan) has to be hard on the guys. The reality is we really care. I care that Greg Oden is getting better. I care that Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge is working hard. I care that Joel Przybilla and the other guys are very unselfish. So I care about all of those things." All the waits Portland now is the long journey of the regular season ahead. -- ╔ Greg Oden LaMarcus Aldridge Martell Webster Brandon Roy Jerryd Bayless ╗ ║ ████████████████████████████████████ ║ ★ 「RISE WITH US」 Let's back to RIP CITY!「GO BLAZERS!」 ★ ║ ████████████████████████████████████ ║ ╚ Joel Przybilla Channing Frye Travis Outlaw Rudy Fernandez Steve Blake ╝ --

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