If general manager John Nash has his way, the Portland TrailBlazers will make a deal before the February 19 Trading Deadline and he believes that is likely to happen.

"We are making an effort and we have made it known to people that we are willing to deal," Nash said. "But we have also made it known that we are not conducting a fire sale. I expect that as we get closer to the deadline, teams will make their best offer. It's my experience that the best and final offers are made in the final moments."

However, a trade seems more likely sooner rather than later if the Blazers (16-19) don't have a good stretch within their next 13 games, 9 of which will be played on the road where they are 2-14 this season, and are booted further out of playoff contention.

Still, nothing looks like it will happen right now unless teams get more generous.

"The bottom line is we are not satisfied with the offers made, nor are we satisfied with the rejections we have gotten," Nash said. "We proposed a lot of trades that have been turned down by other teams in the league. Those same teams may come back and change their position. It's a process."