Sabonis declares desire to be a Blazer

The Lithuanian star holds a press conference and announces his 
intention to sign a contract with Portland for at least three years

The Trail Blazers are about to get their biggest big man since Bill 
Walton.

Arvydas Sabonis, the brittle 7-foot-3 star of Europe, said Friday 
in Madrid that he wants to sign a contract with Portland for at 
least three seasons.

"This is my last chance, and my leg can do it, so I will try," 
Sabonis said during a press conference at the Santiado Bernabeu 
soccer stadium of Real Madrid, the Spanish club he is leaving.

"Like all players, I want to play in the NBA. My family wants it,
too," said the Lithuanian legend, who was drafted by Portland in 
1986. "If I say, `no' now, the Trail Blazers would say, `no more.'"

The Blazers are free to sign him, but they probably won't until 
after July 1, when NBA player contracts expire and salary slots 
become available.

Also, Sabonis plans to play for the Lithuanian national team in the 
European Championships June 21-July 2 in Athens.

"It's great that he has committed to us," Portland general manager 
Bob Whitsitt said. "Now we'll do all we can to sign him."

Although some negotiations between the Blazers and Sabonis 
apparently have taken place, Portland probably will want to hold 
off on giving Sabonis a contract until its medical staff can 
examine him and the championships are over.

Sabonis, who will be 31 on Dec. 19, has been reasonably healthy 
while playing the last six years in Spain, the last three for Real 
Madrid. But he has ruptured his Achilles' tendon twice and had 
ankle problems. And in 1991,

Dr. Robert Cook, then the Blazers' team physician, examined Sabonis 
and said the center needed surgery for a navicular fracture in his 
right foot.

Cook said the surgery could have kept Sabonis out of action for at 
least six months. But Sabonis chose not to have the operation and 
went back to playing in Spain.

Sabonis has said that his foot hurts every day, especially at night, 
"but I am going on with life."

He called Friday's press conference a goodbye to Real Madrid. His 
contract ended Tuesday with a loss to F.C. Barcelona in the Spanish 
First Division seminfials. One of his major accomplishments came 
just last month, when he led Real Madrid to the European club 
championship.

Sabonis also won an Olympic gold medal with the 1988 Soviet Union 
team and a bronze medal in 1992 with Lithuania.

"The only thing I can do is go to the NBA or go home," he said. 
"And after I play in the NBA, I will go home, not back to Europe."

Sabonis, however, has indicated he wants to play for Lithuania in 
the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

By all accounts, Sabonis is a highly skilled offensive player, an 
artful passer with excellent shooting range.

Sabonis' size creates problems for opposing offenses, but he does 
not run the court well by NBA standards.

"Out of 24 seconds, he might take 10 to get up the court and into 
position," said David Pecker, a sportswriter for Marca, a Madrid n
ewspaper. And Sabonis is used to fewer games, less competition and 
easier practices than he would face in the NBA.

Sabonis shrugged off questions Friday about how difficult it will 
be for him to compete in the NBA.

"I don't know," he said. "I haven't been there. I have read that it 
is very tough, but I don't know. In five months, I will be able to 
tell you."

Sabonis did not indicate when he might visit Portland. He said he 
wants to rest for a few weeks. Reportedly, he was headed for a 
holiday retreat on the Spanish coast.

Pedro Ferrandiz, a Real Madrid executive and the club's former 
basketball coach, has been in Oregon during the last week with an 
under-20 World team.

Ferrandiz told the Madrid press he had met with Whitsitt.

"We had some converstions, he was very kind, but I can't say 
anything about it," Ferrandiz said.

Sabonis made $1.3 million with Real Madrid this season, but the NBA 
equivalent would be much higher because the Spanish club paid the 
taxes on his salary. Presumably, Portland will use Terry Porter's 
$2.6 million salary slot instead of re-signing the veteran guard.

The next-largest salary slot that will become open for the Blazers 
is that of forward Mark Bryant, who also is headed for free agency. 
But Bryant's slot is a mere $700,000 or so, which is less than the 
$790,000 Chris Dudley signed for when got an opt-out clause two 
years ago.

Sabonis went in the first round, 24th overall, when the Blazers 
turned heads by drafting him nine years ago.

"If you look at this year's draft and look at the guys in the 
league,"

Whitsitt said, "you say, `If you find a guy who is 7-3 and can do 
the things

Sabonis can do, you've got to gobble him up.' "