Hey, if they can pull off a deal for Hibbert, I'd be damn happy, it'd fill a huge hole (i.e. a real post player unlike Aldrige who is looking more like Rasheed without the 'tude).

Besides Allen is motivated to get back at Pritchard (Indiana's GM.)

I don't see how Lillard is going to look since he's never played against real competition and the IL looks like a standard MarkEaton/ShawnBradley/ChrisKaman clone.

Jack, only number one picks are cursed in Portland. These two aren't even top 5 picks, so there is no reason to suspect that the curse will continue. They both seem like outstanding young men with lots of upside. Lillard sounds like a sure bet as a starting point guard in his first year, and Leonard is a giant who has potential to develop into something special at center. I'm looking forward to watching them in action this upcoming season.

This whole Roy Hibbert "hand shake" free agent business is something I'll believe when the ink is dry, but if it happens we will be a become a very tall athletic team in the front court.

That's what we were with Oden, supposedly.

Remember back in the Final Four when Roy Hibbert played against Greg Oden?

Even if Indiana matches our offer, this could be a metaphysical thing where we travel back to the point in time when we first got off the path. I see this as a healing move.

Maybe this offer to Hibbert could lift our bad luck in a second way - even if absolutely nothing comes of it.

See, we trick the basketball gods with another guy named Roy, and the curse becomes confused and lost somewhere between here and Indiana.

Just a theory, but how many guys named Roy are NBA players?

I don't want to overstate this, but I believe this move could swing the karmic pendulum the other way for the entire galaxy.

Yeah, Bill -- after all it is 2012 still.