The Portland Trail Blazers are very unhappy with Zach Randolph.  He was set to be cornerstone of a new era of Blazer basketball, where the only news he would make would be on the court play, not in the court the play.  The recent develops stemming from a shooting involving his brother at a nightclub and Randolph's subsequent allegeded obstruction of justice have made the Blazers reconsider their plans.

The Oregonian is reporting that a trade is being negotiated where the Blazers would send Randolph, Derek Anderson and a 2005 draft pick to Milwaukee for Michael Redd, Desmond Mason and Marcus Haislip.

This deal could be perceived as a success for the Blazers even without Randolph's legal problems, as Redd has become one of the league's most highly touted shooting guards.  The Blazers would receive a player to finally properly fill the position vacated by Clyde Drexler.

The motivation for the Bucks to complete this deal will be because Redd becomes an unrestricted free-agent at the end of this season and this could be the lone opportunity for Milwaukee to get equal value in return.  In Randolph, a restricted free-agent at season's end, they will have the NBA's most promising young power forward.  Even though the Bucks have high hopes for Redd, a shooting guard is an infinitely easier position to fill.

Restricted free agent F Darius Miles and the Portland TrailBlazers are close to reaching an agreement on a six year contract for an unknown sum.

After being traded from Cleveland in exchange for G Jeff McInnis, Miles had a resurgent second half of the season and was a big part of Portland's unsuccessfull playoff push. After becoming a restricted free agent, he initially rejected Portland's original offer sheet, but after an increased offer, decided to remain with the organization.

No charges were filed Thursday against Portland Trail Blazers forward Zach Randolph or his brother, Roger, for their involvement in a shooting at an Anderson, Ind., nightclub last weekend.

Randolph still faces the possibility of filing false information to police information.

After averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds last season it became abundantly clear that the 23-year-old was the future of Blazers, if not the NBA.  Randolph is in his last year of a contract that will pay him $1.8-million for the 2004-2005 season.  After that it has been speculated that he was in position to receive up to $83-million for his future services.  An amount he is definitely proved himself worthy of on the court.

However, these latest allegations of his involvement in a nightclub shooting have brought back to life Randolph?s checkered past, including a DUI charge, a sucker-punch thrown during a practice, and a trip to juvenile hall.

Randolph?s biggest mistake appears to be his denial to the police of having any knowledge of the nightclub shootings when many witnesses could clearly put him at the scene.  Whether or not that was his only crime remains to be seen.

Assuming Randolph gets out of this situation untarnished, he will still have to deal with the blemish to his reputation which may make teams hesitant to sign him.  However, with the numbers he put up last season combined with his youth, it seems a very unlikely scenario.

With free agent Joel Przybilla signed by the Portland Trail Blazers, GM John Nash will now set his sights on Darius Miles.  The former Clipper and Cavalier is a restricted free agent, but has yet to garner much interest on the open market, though it is likely teams have been reluctant to make Miles an offer with the expectation that the Blazers will match.

The Portland Trail Blazers signed free agent center Joel Przybilla from the Atlanta Hawks.  The Blazers will be the third team he has played for after he left the University of Minnesota after his sophomore year and was drafted ninth overall in the 2000 draft by Houston.

"Joel is a young man that has demonstrated the ability to rebound and block shots especially when given the opportunity to play last season in Atlanta," Trail Blazers General Manager John Nash said. "We would welcome those attributes to our team."

Przybilla has had a modest carrer thus far, but there are a finite number of 7 footers in the NBA and has a lot of upside and should become a contributer with the rebuilding Blazers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers promoted Mike Bratz to director of basketball operations and also announced the hiring of Mark Warkentien as the director of player personnel.

Contracts terms were not disclosed.  

Cavs general manager Jim Paxson told the media that the moves will allow the organization to improve its talent scouting at the college level, in Europe and in the NBA.

Bratz joined Cleveland in 2000 as a college and minor-league scout and most recently was director of player personnel.

Warkentien spent 10 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers and held several positions, including director of player personnel, assistant general manager and director of scouting.

The Portland Trail Blazers named Kevin Pritchard as their new director of player personnel.  He replaces Mark Warkentien, who left the Blazers after nine seasons.

Pritchard had been a scout with the San Antonio Spurs and prior to that spent three years with the ABA's Kansas City Knights.

"Kevin brings experience as a former player, both in the NBA and internationally, as a successful minor league coach and as an NBA scout. He is one of the rising young executives in the NBA," Blazer GM John Nash said.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Zach Randolph's brother was arrested after three men were shot inside a bar early Sunday.  

Zach Randolf was questioned by police because he witnessed the shootings, a detective said.  He cooperated and was released.

Someone opened fire, injuring three, after an argument developed in the bar.

Damon Stoudamire, the Blazers' point guard and captain, is passionate about the Trail Blazers and a bit concerned that other teams are improving while his stays the same.

"I'm sitting back from afar, I guess just like everybody else, and waiting for a big whammy. But I ain't got that whammy yet," Stoudamire said.

The Blazers are thinking of signing Joel Przybilla as a backup center and have settled on Richie Frahm as their backup shooting guard.

In the meantime, Shareef Abdur-Rahim is threatening to sit out training camp unless he is traded, Darius Miles considers the Blazers' latest offer insulting, and Ruben Patterson is begging for a trade again.

"Man, I'm nervous, but not like a bad nervous," Stoudamire said. "It seems like everything right now is at a crossroads. And this to me is a make-or-break year, because last year people didn't come to the games and we didn't go to the playoffs.  I think we have a competitive team, but the next couple of months will tell whether we are going to make moves and really try and do something this year, or whether we are rebuilding and trying to get cap space."

Center Joel Przybilla is in Portland today and may sign a free-agent contract with the team soon.

Przybilla is a 7-foot-1, 255-pounder who rebounds and blocks shots.  But he's not a big scorer.  

"He's a decent player," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "And any time you can get a decent player, he can help your team. I don't remember a whole lot about him, but he's active and can rebound and block a few shots."

GM John Nash said Przybilla is one of three free-agent centers the team has interest in.  He would be expected to battle Vladimir Stepania for the right to come off the bench behind Theo Ratliff.

"I think we will have it resolved in the next couple of weeks," Nash said. "There's not really any urgency."

Meanwhile, Nash said the team is happy with its choice of Frahm to fill the two-guard spot.  "We are comfortable with Richie Frahm," said Nash.