We've talked so much about this pre-draft workout process, and Thursday was a the biggest day yet for the Trail Blazers, their scouts, and executives. The team hosted Adam Morrison, Rudy Gay, Brandon Roy, and Hasaan Adams in a spirited workout run by head coach Nate McMillan.

Everyone has their opinions on who the Trail Blazers should select in the June 28th draft, and coach McMillan has told us these workouts can be "make or break" moments for prospective Blazers. We won't know for a couple of weeks which players have done the best job of proving themselves in their individual workouts. The highest profile workout day, in my history with the Blazers, was undoubtedly Thursday. There were media members on hand from Seattle, Spokane, and the Portland/Vancouver area. The press was allowed in to watch approximately the last 20 or 30 minutes of the workout.

How important was this particular workout session? Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen was courtside, and wanted to see this one for himself. Allen has attended many of these workouts in the past, and if you recall, he was on hand last summer on the day Martell Webster worked out for the team. Martell put on a superb shooting display and that no doubt had a lot to do with why the Blazers ended up selecting him. Again, time will tell if Thursday's workout will be put in that catagory for one of these players.

Those who watched said all the players performed well, even though in a few of the post-workout interviews, Morrison commented that he didn't shoot as well as he would have liked. Gay was asked about going up against players like Morrison and Roy, and said he was happy to do it, and was confident enough in his abilities that he welcomed the challenge of going head-to-head against a few of the elite players in the draft. As you know, some agents advise their clients not to take part in workouts like this, where the players are pitted against each other. The players involved in today's session seemed to welcome the opportunity.

If you've taken some time to look around our website, you probably realize you can watch exclusive workout video shot by ace Blazers Broadcasting photographer Jeff Curtin, the only photographer allowed into the workouts. He was on hand again Thursday, and you will find highlights of all of the players on the front page of trailblazers.com. This is video you will only find right here.

After the workout on Thursday, I was able to sit down for a one-on-one interview with Paul Allen. The entire interview will air during our radio show Courtside Monday Night presented by L.A. Weight Loss, this coming Monday, from 6pm to 8 on KXL in the Portland area. I asked Allen for his thoughts about the draft, the possible moves this summer, the importance of re-signing Joel Przybilla, and more. After the interview is aired Monday night, you'll be able to download it from this blog. So, if you miss the radio show Monday, check back here to hear it, and all the interviews from that show.

 

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