The Blazers, who have shown some interest in Barbosa, were thought to be interested in trading out of their spot to get him. But sources said a proposed deal involving Phoenix never included their No. 13 pick and a proposal of Valley native Channing Frye, forward Martell Webster and a second-round pick was shot down by Portland. And after the Blazers acquired the No. 27 pick from New Orleans late Tuesday, Yahoo.com is reporting Portland is now targeting Texas guard D.J. Augustin and is talking seriously with New Jersey about the 10th overall pick. But Charlotte could trump those plans by taking Augustin with their ninth pick.
If Portland gets Augustin or trades out of the spot, the chances of Kansas shooting guard Brandon Rush being on the board for the Suns at No. 15 improves - especially since Indiana may be more inclined to take a big man at No. 13 (Stanford center Robin Lopez) after dealing O'Neal.
But Rush has turned the heads of many teams with great workouts in the last month. One of them was in Golden State as a 12-player mega-workout coordinated by the Suns. And while it afforded them a chance to see some players that had passed on visiting Phoenix, it also gave Rush a chance to wow other teams, which he did.
