Forking over the 30mil to buy him out was a brilliant move by Portland, IMO. Lurker hit the nail on the head with his post. This guy has proven to be a cancer everywhere he goes. The writing was on the wall when he refused to play for Vancouver when they tried to draft him and in hindsight his career has only reinforced that he is a petulant, heartless, crybaby that can ruin a teams chemistry.
The Blazers have assembled an incredible pool of young talent. The only thing that can squelch their potential right now is a bad coach, a cancer teammate or some unfortunate injuries. You can't control the ladder, but IMO they've done a great job of mitigating the first two.