How the Portland Trail Blazers’ famous summer of 1999 could help the current team
Rob Ryan
|
Bringing in the Championship Pedigree
Sometimes when teams make moves to upgrade the roster, other unexpected options present themselves later in the process. Six-time NBA Champion and 7-time All-Star, and Dream Team member Scottie Pippen wanted out of Houston. Portland was his preferred destination. Pippen probably doesn’t make that request if the Trail Blazers didn’t trade for Smith in the first place.
With Scottie Pippen voicing his preference about heading to Rip City, the Portland Trail Blazers gained a good measure of trade leverage. That resulted in Portland not including any of their top rotational players to complete a move. Therefore, the Blazers sent a package of Kelvin Cato, Brian Shaw, Carlos Rogers, Walt Williams, Ed Gray, and Stacey Augmon to Houston for Scottie Pippen. The Rockets eventually bought out Augmon, and he returned to Portland a few weeks later.
Pippen immediately supplanted Shrempf as the starting small forward. Shrempf moved to a bench that was now full of quite a bit of starter-level talent. The new-look Portland Trail Blazers had a nightmare starting five of Damon Stoudamire, Steve Smith, Scottie Pippen, Rasheed Wallace, and Arvydas Sabonis. Their bench was also deep with key contributors Greg Anthony, Schrempf, Brian Grant, and Bonzi Wells.
The Blazers were not just contenders but the favorites to win it all. In one summer of moves, their potential became actualized.