Blazer president Steve Patterson has confirmed that they are indeed working on a deal that would send Jason Kidd to the West Coast for forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

"It's early," Patterson said. "It's interesting, but I don't know if anything will happen."

Another source told SportsLine.com that the Blazers are busy getting opinions on the micro-fracture surgery that Kidd had on his left knee July 1 that figures to have him out until December. The surgery was successful, and Kidd has made it clear he would like to leave the Nets, who were sold to Bruce Ratner in the spring and have essentially purged their roster since then.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the deal is the Blazers drafted prep point guard Sebastian Telfair with the 13th pick overall in the 2004 draft. Add to that, they already have point guards Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel making some $27 million between them.

The concept prompted Steve Patterson to joke, "Actually, we're trying to build a roster with just point guards and small forwards."

Both players played their college basketball for the California Golden Bears.