A question hanging over the Trail Blazers, and Brandon Roy for that matter, is whether he is the team's point guard of the future, if not right now.

Roy says he likes playing point guard because the ball is in his hands ... he just doesn't want to guard a point guard or be forced to bring the ball up the court. That, he says, would be exhausting over an 82-game schedule.

At any rate, both Roy and general manager Kevin Pritchard think the discussion is much ado about nothing.

"We all get caught up in determining what position is everybody,'' Pritchard said. "I mean, do you call him a point guard because he is handling the ball? I don't worry about whether a guy is a point guard or not - I want to know if he is a playmaker. Because you are either a playmaker or you are not, and Brandon is definitely a playmaker.''

Coach Nate McMillan has already said he envisions Roy playing more point guard this season, in part because he wants Roy to have the ball in his hands more. In a summer conversation, McMillan told Roy to worry less about getting his teammates involved and focus more on asserting himself, shooting more, and letting his teammates adjust.

"The big thing with that, is we all know Brandon Roy,'' Pritchard said. "He has developed so much emotional credit on this team that if he takes a bad shot while being aggressive ... I think we're OK with that. We've told him it's OK if he's the most aggressive player on the floor because we trust him.''