Jun 22

As mentioned in the previous post, the Trail Blazers are in Houston to meet with English big man Joel Freeland, whose rights are owned by Portland. Ever since the Trail Blazers drafted Freeland with the 30th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, many have questioned when the English national would make his NBA debut, or if he ever would.

From the looks of it, that question is about to be answered. It sounds like Freeland is ready to give the NBA go, whether it's with the Trail Blazers or another team.

"I think this is my time to make that step if I get the opportunity," Freeland told Brendan Gallagher of The Telegraph. "All the things have to be in the right place though. They're coming over to watch me play on Saturday. I'm talking to their general manager, and will listen to their ideas, what he thinks I should be doing and what he would want from me. At the moment, until I have that meeting, I don't know exactly what will happen.

"But I'm open to offers. as I said all along, my dream is to be there and I think at 25 years old it's probably the perfect age to go if I'm ever to make the jump. I love playing in Malaga, I love being there, had a great time playing there but, at the end of the day, the NBA is where I'd like to be."

If Freeland's skills are NBA-ready, he'd seem like a great option to help shore up Portland's front line. It also sounds like a few other NBA teams might be interested in Freeland's services as well, so even if he never ends up putting on a Trail Blazers jersey, he could end up being a valuable trade piece.