Blazers interested in Nene Hilario?
Here we go, one of the many off-season rumors to fly around Portland just a couple of weeks after the season ended. This time, Blazersedge came out with a snippet yesterday about the possibility of Denver Nugget center Nene leaving this summer, as the Blazers and Houston Rockets are considered teams interested in him.
Portland would be taking another risk taking yet another big man onto the roster
From Blazersedge and Chris Mannix of SI.com:
“Nuggets and Nene are not close to an agreement on an extension, sources say. Haven’t discussed terms in weeks. Nene is inclined to stay in Denver. But there will be a robust market for 28-year old center. Houston, Portland possibilities.
The Blazers are fresh out of cap space but could theoretically negotiate an extend-and-trade.”
Denver’s big man from Brazil posted one of his strongest seasons the last two years, improving his overall shooting percentage, free throw percentage and rebounding. He does offer a lot of recent health scares as well which raise red flags, suffering from things like collateral ligaments and a torn meniscus. He even took some time off in 2008 to attend to cancer treatments. If the Blazers are indeed considering Nene, I’m positive Denver would continue to bark after Nic Batum and add along someone like Rudy Fernandez to the deal.
photo courtesy of nba.com/blazers
sources courtesy of blazersedge.com, and Chris Mannix
Nicholas Filipas