Blazer fans begin wild ride

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Portland basketball fans were on hand at the Moda Center Wednesday for the NBA Draft in a seeming moment of ... survival.

Not a short MAX ride away they could step into protest action among citizens ready to defend democracy against what's basically become a cartel organized by the White House against immigrants looking for a better life.

Wednesday at the Moda Center, Blazers fans had gathered to see how team management was looking to provide the fanbase with a better outlook on winning starting with the draft. It certainly didn't look all that assertive.

Just a day earlier, the team had traded one of its budding stars, Anfernee Simons, to Boston for a not-budding veteran, Jrue Holiday, and all kinds of draft picks and money. One of the quick points of any story was how Holiday did not want to move to Portland, so he likely would be part of another move.

Then, at pick 11, the Blazers selected Cedric Coward of Washington State - who had started his career at Willamette in Salem, and traded him to Memphis for the No. 16 pick and Orlando's first round pick in '28 (???), and drafted China's version of a young Nikola Jokic even though the team already has a version of him in Donovan Clingan. And, Clingan looks very promising. So, do fans need to follow another promising player?

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