---

By Jerry Mittleman

Rasheed Wallace and Shareef Abdur-Rahim are the marquee names in this week's Portland-Atlanta deal but the real key could turn out to be Theo Ratliff.

The Trailblazers haven't had a real center since Arvidas Sabonis was reduced to a part-time role three seasons ago, and more often then not, Wallace and Dale Davis have been forced to play out of postion. Despite Ratliff's pedesterian eight points and seven rebounds a game, his addition to the Blazers lineup should give them chemistry that's been badly missing. A frontline of Abdur-Rahim at small forward, Zach Randolph at power forward and Ratliff in the middle gives Portland much more balance then they've had in recent years.

The trade that brings Ratliff, Abdur-Rahim and Dan Dichau to the Rose City and sends Wallace out of town, brings to Portland three players of "good character" in an overture to the city's disenfranchised fans on the part of Blazer management.

Aside from getting players of character, the addition of Ratliff gives the club a true warrior. He has led the NBA in blocked shots twice and is on his way to a third title. Ratliff was the glue of the defense of the Philadelphia 76er team that dominated the NBA in the first half of the 2000-1 campaign. After Ratliff was traded in mid-season to Atlanta for Dikebe Mutombo, the Sixers were considerably less effective despite making it to the NBA Finals that season.

Ratliff suffered a serious leg injury shortly before being traded to Atlanta and basically missed the second half of the 2000-1 season as well as the following one. During the past season and a half with the lowly Hawks, Ratliff, age 30, has been less impressive then in his pre-injury days, but he's also been in a situation that hasn't challenged him to utilize all his competitive skills.

The trade will make a weak Atlanta team even weaker and probably assures that a rudderless franchise will remain without direction for even longer. Both Wallace and Wesley Person, who was included in the deal, will be free agents at the end of the summer. Assuming that Wallace wont be resigned, the Hawks will be left with a payroll that compliments the empty stands in Phillips Arena. The Hawks' management is banking on attracting quality free agents to Atlanta in the off season. They'd do better betting on a blizzard in Ecuador.

For the Blazers, the future should be much rosier then for the Hawks. Their defense will be significantly better with Ratliff and Abdul-Rahim should just about make up for the loss of Wallace on offense. The Trailblazers have benefited from Derek Anderson's return to action, after missing the first half of the season, and only Damon Stoudamire remains an Achilles Heel, both on and off the court. The Blazers finally seem headed in the right direction and may be only one good point guard away from playoff contention.