The Bloom Falls Off The Rose
That summer, Brian Grant was traded to the Miami Heat in a three-team deal that brought Shawn Kemp from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The move reunited Whitsitt with the player that first allowed him to make a splash in NBA front-office circles.
A second problem perceived was the need to have more “big bodies” to defend against Shaquille O'Neal; as a result, forward/center Jermaine O'Neal was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Dale Davis. This trade is widely regarded as a disaster for the Blazers, as O'Neal has since become an All-Star while Davis had several serviceable years in Portland. Third, Steve Smith requested and got a trade to San Antonio for guard Derek Anderson. Finally, the Blazers signed free agent forward Ruben Patterson.
With the new lineup, the team won 42 of their first 60 games. After Wells suffered a season-ending injury, however, the team was swept in three games by the Lakers.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Portland Trail Blazers
Famous quotes containing the words bloom, falls and/or rose:
“Half-opening her lips to the frost’s morning sigh, how strangely the rose has smiled on a swift-fleeting day of September!
How audacious it is to advance in stately manner before the blue-tit fluttering in the shrubs that have long lost their leaves, like a queen with the spring’s greeting on her lips;
to bloom with steadfast hope that, parted from the cold flower-bed, she may be the last to cling, intoxicated, to a young hostess’s breast.”
—Afanasi Fet (1820–1892)
“When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls, and the stars begin to flicker in the sky,”
—Mitchell Parish (1901–1993)
“O my luve’s like a red, red rose That’s newly sprung in June;
O my luve’s like the melodie That’s sweetly play’d in tune.”
—Robert Burns (1759–1796)