As fans of the Portland Trail Blazers are well aware, history was made last NBA season. Two dominant Pacific division teams ran all over the league for months during the regular season, compiling long winning streaks that the opposite team had to break, then skipped through the playoffs and met in the West final, with the winner all set to take the NBA title against an Eastern patsy.

	Rasheed Wallace became an All-Star-type player last year, but must control the emotions.

Finally, respect for Scottie Pippen. Stardom for Rasheed Wallace. Security for Brian Grant. A long-term deal for Mike Dunleavy and maybe even retirement for deserving Arvydas Sabonis.

The Blazers would have won (sorry, Pacers fans) their second NBA championship had Game 7 of the West finals vs. L.A. been only 38 minutes. But in the excruciating final 10 minutes of their season, the Blazers went on to set a new standard for choking away a lead in a big game (15 points, quickly) and throw the future state of the franchise and its offseason into some question.

On that bright note, we present our 22nd offseason team spotlight, the Portland Trail Blazers. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, but we also appreciate yours. Click on the file to the right to see what ESPN.com users were thinking.

Why the Blazers were 59-23: People still think that the 1999-2000 NBA season began and end with Shaq and the Lakers. That's not true. For awhile we were talking about the best team money could buy, the Blazers, as the league's top team. With serious veterans giving the team serious depth and everyone focused on the serious prize, this team sped through its 1999 calendar portion of the season without worry.

Only three losses in November, four in December, and all but two of the seven losses to playoff teams. Then in February came an 11-game winning streak, setting up the big leap day (Feb. 29) game with the Lakers, who also had won 11 straight. The game was far from pretty, but the Lakers won in Portland, ending the Blazers' 16-game home winning streak and setting a tone for the rest of the regular season for both teams.

Portland didn't exactly stink in March and April, but their 14-12 record down the stretch brought up major concerns. Suddenly, there were flaws. Grant just couldn't get healthy, Sabonis couldn't walk, Wallace's technical fouls were a problem, Damon Stoudamire's game was picked apart and good soldiers like Bonzi Wells, Detlef Schrempf and Jermaine O'Neal wanted more playing time. This was two different seasons rolled into one.

In the end, the Blazers won their most games since 1990-91 and took a harder route to the West finals, but still got there. With Wallace emerging as a force on the court (and with his mouth) and Pippen and Steve Smith bringing a leadership dimension that the franchise lacked, the Blazers figured to win 60 or so games, and they did. Now what?

	Current projected top 6
	PG	Damon Stoudamire
	SG	Steve Smith
	SF	Scottie Pippen
	PF	Rasheed Wallace
	C	Arvydas Sabonis
	6th	Shawn Kemp

Team MVP: Wallace earned career highs in scoring, rebounding, blocks and steals, and was a force. And if he were to unload the intensity that landed him an NBA record for most technicals, his game would suffer. With Grant sputtering all year, Rasheed led the team. Team LVP: No team had this much depth, so there's no LVP. Sure, more was expected of O'Neal, but you can't only play him in trash time of games. And picking the clearly injured Grant isn't fair. Surprise! First, the fact this team could be so average after starting 45-11 is amazing. In terms of players, Wallace was expected to improve his game, but who thought Wells would play such a big role? Think Detroit would like to get him back? Wells is a scoring machine and barged his way into the rotation with 8.8 points in 17.7 minutes. Up and comer: On a 30-something team clearly playing for now and not tomorrow, Wells is the only candidate. Whether Wells starts taking more of Smith and Schrempf's minutes right away (there remain defensive questions) is not clear.

What they need: Let's get this out of the way right now. Shawn Kemp is not going to be happy in Portland. A better player than he showed in Cleveland last year, Kemp arrives in Portland in the three-way deal with Miami and the Cavs involving Grant. But with the starting lineup not breakable -- unless Sabonis can't stay healthy and Kemp plays center -- it's unlikely that Kemp will bring numbers anywhere close to resembling 20 and 10. Kemp remains a top big man, but Grant is better defensively. Plus, now Dale Davis is around to also take time from Kemp.

Bottom line is the Blazers need nothing except another chance. With Kemp replacing Grant and the rest of the 10-man rotation staying the same except for the addition of former Pacer Davis, the Blazers figure to run out to another great start. Who would have figured that this veteran team would be affected so much from one loss to the Lakers? Or maybe the Blazers figured the division title and top seed was lost that night, so pace yourselves and get ready for the West final. Either way, this team doesn't figure to drop off at all.

With seven or eight players more than capable of leading the team in scoring on any given night, the Blazers can score 100 points at will. With Wallace, Sabonis, Davis and Kemp, rebounding isn't an issue either. Four players drained 80 or more 3-pointers, and team defense is a strength. Dunleavy does a nice job controlling egos and finding time for people.

So why did the Blazers blow the big lead to the Lakers in Game 7? Nerves? After cruising along for three quarters, everyone panicked at once and missed easy layups and were beaten out for rebounds. There were 13 straight missed shots by Portland, Shaq took over and the Lakers made three 3-pointers down the stretch. It was a long offseason.

What the plan is: Nothing really needs to be changed here. Wells figures to get more run in place of some of the really old guys. Sabonis missed 16 games last year, and with Davis and Kemp around he can afford to play less. By the way, Kemp has four years and $71 million remaining on a contract that, starting this season, calls for him to receive $11.72 million, $12.66 million, $21.5 million and $25.0 million. Money's not an issue here. That became obvious when a day after the Kemp trade was completed the Blazers shipped O'Neal to Indiana for Davis, who was an All-Star last year and now becomes the team's best pure rebounder.

The team's lone draft pick was point guard Erick Barkley, but he doesn't figure to steal much time from Stoudamire or Greg Anthony, who turned down bigger money to stay in Portland.

Wallace will likely continue his ascension to the group of All-Star power forwards, though he must control his temper and be on the floor late in more contests. He set league marks with an amazing 38 techs (and we admit, refs were looking for him and some calls were unnecessary) and six ejections. Run through Wallace's game log from last season and there is little in-between; a lot of games with 43 minutes and too many in the 20s and shortened by his own mouth. Dunleavy must have this guy on the floor in key moments.

You wonder how much longer the Blazers can do this. We know last year was really the first year that the team could call itself dominant and deep, but these guys are old. A popular argument for the Blazers made much of last season was that if you combine the Blazers and Lakers, Portland would have eight of the top 10 players. But they wouldn't have the top two. That won't change this season.

Still, the Blazers must not only get to the West finals, but win it this time. If not, don't be surprised if there's a dismantling. The Blazers have to get to the NBA Finals this time.

Direction heading: Hard to improve on 59 wins? Not really. Expect closer to 65 wins and another long playoff run. And a lot of pressure along the way.