12 Jan 11 NBA Soup Rumor Mill: Portland Trail Blazers Looking for Inside Help

Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesAfter Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla went down with season-ending knee injuries, it was no secret that the Blazers were hurting in their inside game, as they were forced to rely almost solely on LaMarcus Aldridge.However, it's become clear that they are in Green Bay Packers jersey
the market for a short-term replacement to help keep them competitive for the remainder of this season while freeing up a roster spot for next season, enabling both Oden and Przybilla to return to the rotation in 2010-11.This thought gives Portland two solid, reasonable options, as both Brendan Haywood (Washington Wizards) and Brad Miller (Chicago Bulls) are capable veteran big men who can play at the four or the five. Each can give a boost to a playoff contender and then go off the books when the 2010 summer hits.However, both Chicago and Washington know how desperate Portland is for a decent big man, and they have their own reasons for holding on to their respective players.Neither Haywood nor Miller are doing any real damage in their rotations, but both still hold solid value for their teams, with their ability to help their team this season along with the cap relief they bring at the end of the year.Because of this, Washington has extended an offer for Haywood to Portland that would bring Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum to Washington. Houston Texans jersey
To put it simply, this is far from a fair trade.Fernandez and Batum are both young, athletic, and versatile components of Portland's rotation, and they'd be shifting the make-up of their rotation, simply to acquire a one-year fix that, quite arguably, wouldn't fix a thing.In other words, Washington can forget about it.Now, with Chicago, Portland is extremely interested in Miller, but as it turns out, despite Miller getting inconsistent minutes, the Bulls don't have a strong interest in shopping him, as he will give them major cap relief at the end of the year.Instead, they're trying hard to get the best possible deal for Kirk Hinrich and/or John Salmons.Chicago's goal is to bring in solid players with expiring contracts, or picks, so they can remain competitive, but also put themselves in position to make a play for LeBron James and/or Dwyane Wadeand possibly even Chris Boshwhen those respective stars become free agents.Another factor for Chicago is that Miller just dropped 25 points in a game earlier this week in place of an injured Joakim Noah. If the Bulls, who are in the thick of the playoff race, lost one of their post men due to injury, the craft veteran (Miller) would be a great asset to have.This rings especially true after Chicago traded away little-used center Aaron Gray.Portland is nowhere close to a resolution to their issues in their post-game, and with less than three weeks to go before the trade deadline, they'll need to make plenty of calls to close a deal.*We'll keep you updated with any other trade rumors and/or moves involvingIndianapolis Colts jersey
these three teams, but, for now, take a look at what other rumors/stories are flying around the Web:Denver Nuggets interested in Jeff Foster?No one "untouchable" in Philly?Mavericks not dealing Dampier?Jermaine O'Neal for Amare Stoudemire?Antawn Jamison not worried about trade rumors.For all of your NBA news, rumors, and fantasy needs, go to NBA Soup.