Oh yeah. Gonna be a fun year in Portland. If we opt for the NBA ticket, it’ll be strictly for the team that was known as the Jailblazers just three years ago. If there’s a more titillating young starting five in the league, please notifty us: Oden (20), Aldridge (23), Outlaw (24), Roy (24), and Blake (28).

[Aside: A few people have tried to say Oden got dunked on last night by the Kings' Kevin Martin. Not sure. Obviously he'll get posterized a few times this year, but that one's iffy. You want posterized, go here and here.]

Obviously health will be a factor (Oden’s one year at Ohio State was marred by injury and his rookie season was eliminated because of it; Martell Webster, who was probably going to win the SF spot, is out 8-10 weeks with a foot injury), as will the point guard play (a rookie, Jerryd Bayless, is the backup), and the most significant will be how rookies such as Oden and Rudy Fernandez take to the rigors of an 82-game season.

We’ll stop here for now, only because we anticipate lots of Blazers’ batherings this season. We don’t think a 50-win estimate is absurd. Nor a lengthy playoff run. And beware anyone who attempts to say neither will happen. Because nobody – GMs, coaches, players, pundits, analysts, whomever – has any clue how much of a game-changing force Oden can be in his first year in the league. (And to a lesser extent, Fernandez.)

For these reasons, we have some cigarette money on the Blazers to win the title.