Philadelphia, PA -- What a mess in Portland.

The Trail Blazers, who are 16-23 and very close to ending up in the cellar in the Pacific Division, are struggling this season and look like they will miss the postseason for the first time since the 1981-1982. Portland fans should start to prepare themselves for some lean years, as the time has come for the Blazers to get rid of the bad seeds and re-build their roster through the draft and free agency.

Portland has problems with its roster on and off the court. However, now is not the time to reflect on the past. It is time to move forward in a different direction.

Team general manager John Nash will be the architect behind the process to re-shape Portland's roster. How is he going to do it?

Nash already traded multi-talented swingman Bonzi Wells, 27, earlier this season to the Memphis Grizzlies for 32-year-old swingman Wesley Person, a conditional first-round pick in the 2004 NBA Draft and cash considerations. If the Grizzlies' first-round choice in the 2004 draft is one of the top three picks, the team has the option to keep the selection.

Prior to being traded, Wells was stripped of his team captaincy and suspended for two games by the Blazers after he cursed at head coach Maurice Cheeks.

The Blazers did not get the better player in the Wells deal. But, what they did acquire was a draft pick from a team that has had trouble making the playoffs in the past, and that could lead to a chance to selecting a talented player in the draft.

This is the type of deal Nash is going to have to make. He should look to clear up space under the salary cap by acquiring players in the final year of their contracts, even if it means giving up the more talent player.

Who else needs to go? How about Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Ruben Patterson and Dale Davis for starters. Wow, that is one-third of Portland's active roster.

The 29-year-old Wallace has been rumored to be the center of serious trade talks that would land him in Dallas. The talented, but hot-head North Carolina product has a lot of value and also makes a lot of money. With a salary cap in place in the NBA, it makes it much more difficult to makes moves. Nash has to be creative when it comes to dealing Wallace, but it will definitely be for the best.

The Portland GM is also going to have to use his imagination when it comes to dealing veteran players like Stoudamire, Patterson and Davis. All three players have significant contracts and come with excess baggage. They will be tough sells to other teams, but it can be done with a little bit of creativity.

There are two positive things for Portland to look at. The first is its head coach. Cheeks, who is in his third year as the general of the Blazers, is a class act and a solid coach. In his first two seasons, Cheeks led the Blazers to 99 wins, but has not able get his team out of the first round of the postseason. In fact, Portland has not made it out of the opening round since the 2000 playoffs.

The other positive is that there actually is a player for Portland to build around. Third-year veteran Zach Randolph has turned himself into an excellent power forward. The 22-year-old Randolph, who was selected out of Michigan State by the Blazers in the first round (19th pick overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft, is a good starting block.

Randolph has emerged as Portland's leading scorer and rebounder this season. As long as he can be a good citizen and stay out of trouble off the court, one piece of the puzzle is in place.

At this point, it does not matter what kind of talent Portland gets in return when making trades. As long the Blazers load up on draft picks and players who are either in the final year of their contract or have one, even two years left on their current deal, they'll be better off.

Nash and the rest of the Portland organization should come to grips with the fact that losing is only going to make them better. It is going to take time, but remember, Rome was not built in a day!