PORTLAND, Ore. Black Saints Jerseys . - With no picks in this years NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers still made news in offering All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge a maximum contract extension. The offer was confirmed Thursday by a person close to the negotiations who could not comment publicly because the team had not formally announced it. The offer, made to Aldridges representatives last week, was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. Aldridge, in the fifth and final year of a $65 million contract, is set to become a free agent next summer. The Blazers hope to lure him to stay with a five-year, $108 million extension. Aldridge averaged a career-best 23.2 points and 11.1 rebounds last season for the Blazers, who went 54-28 and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals before losing to eventual NBA champion San Antonio. The move does not come as a surprise after general manager Neil Olshey emphasized the importance of getting the deal with Aldridge done. "The most important thing is everybody, including LaMarcus, knows hes the number one priority in the organization right now," Olshey said when the season ended. There was talk last summer that Aldridge was interested in entertaining other offers, but as the season drew to a close he said several times that he was happy in Portland. The Blazers have been known in recent years to pull off draft night surprises, but the team was quiet with no picks this season. It was the third time that the Blazers had gone without a selection, but first since 1999. The team surrendered its picks in this years draft because of earlier trades. The No. 24 overall pick went to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a 2011 trade that brought Gerald Wallace to Portland. The No. 56 pick went to the Denver Nuggets in the 2011 trade that sent Andre Miller to the Nuggets. Elite Saints Jerseys . Joel Embiid was nearly unstoppable in the paint in the second half, and Naadir Tharpe seemingly couldnt miss. Youth Saints Jerseys . - Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II says the NFL has told the team it will not be docked a pick in this years draft for coach Mike Tomlins foray onto the field against Baltimore last November. http://www.officialsaintsnflauthenticshop.com/ . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning.TORONTO -- In the span of a minute Friday, Terrence Ross scored on an alley-oop, a three-pointer and a massive running dunk, taking off from near the top of the key. The 22-year-old started his second game in place of the departed Rudy Gay, and made the most of it, scoring 24 points -- including a key three in the dying minutes -- to lift the revamped Toronto Raptors to a 108-100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. "The main thing is staying focused so I can play at this level, Im really trying to just know my job, know my role and just make sure we have the chemistry going and keep winning," Ross said afterward. DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 27 points for Toronto (8-13) on what was a good night to be a Raptors swingman. "Talk about bouncy athletes," said Sixers coach Brett Brown. "You go with Ross and DeRozan, you take the athleticism plus they can come off screens and shoot like they do. Theyre hard guards, theyre really difficult people to defend. Those two guys had fantastic games throughout." Amir Johnson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Jonas Valanciunas finished with 12 points to go with 13 boards, and Kyle Lowry doled out a season-high 11 assists and added six points. Tony Wroten topped the Sixers (7-17) with 23 points. Evan Turner had 21 points, while Thaddeus Young finished with 18. The game marked the first action for Raptors newcomers Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons since they were acquired in Mondays trade that sent Gay, plus Aaron Gray and Quincy Acy to Sacramento. Vasquez scored 12 points, while Patterson had five points and five boards and showed flashes of nice interior defence. "Theyre learning the system, learning to play with each other," said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. "Learning where guys want the ball is huge. I thought they were a little tight playing tonight for the first time which is understandable, but I like what I saw. I think theyre going to mix in quite well." The Raptors almost coughed up an early 15-point lead several times during the game against their Atlantic Division rivals, but took an 83-76 lead into the fourth quarter in front of a crowd of 17,133 at Air Canada Centre. Johnson and Vasquez drained consecutive three-pointers to put Toronto up by 14 with just over seven minutes to go and the Raptors looked poised for an easy victory. But the Sixers battled back and a three by Turner with 2:10 to go pulled them within 100-96. A couple of nice passes on the Raptors next possession found Ross open in the corner, and he drained a three to give Toronto some breathing room, the basket pulling him to within two points of his career high. "That stopped the flow a little bit," Casey said. "His big three in the corner was huge.&quoot; Casey said the challenge for Ross is to maintain a high level of play -- easier said than done for a young player. Cheap Saints Jerseys. . "Hes got to stay hungry, stay driven, stay consistent," the coach said. "Hes a talented young man but hes fighting consistency." DeRozan is doing his part to help Ross. "Youve seen it, Terrence definitely works hard," DeRozan said. "Every time we practise against each other in practice, I always go at him just to try to give him a lesson, give him the extra confidence when hes out there on the court." Lowry, meanwhile, played amid rumours he wasnt long for Toronto, with the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets believed to be the frontrunners to acquire the Raptors starting point guard. Lowry spoke candidly about the rumours after Friday mornings shootaround. "You see it every day, you see it whenever they update it and everyone talks about it," Lowry told reporters. "We joke about it a little bit, we make it more of a lighter type thing, dont make it a heavy hearted thing, make it a joke. "Hey, man, you still here? Make it a little bit lighter on the players in that situation." Lowry, whos in the final year of a contract that will pay him about US$6.2 million this year, admitted the speculation weighed on him. "Nobody can say it doesnt but at the same time, you have to know that this is a business, you have to know the situation that youre in, the situation that youre going to be in," he said. "You cant let it affect you too much because you still have to go out there and do a job and try to win for the team that youre playing for." Starting in place of the departed Gay, Ross scored 12 first-quarter points including a three that put the Raptors up by 11 less than three minutes into the game. Toronto closed out the quarter up 36-21. The three new Raptors started the second and the chemistry clearly wasnt there, as the Sixers opened the quarter with a 10-0 run. A pair of Wroten free throws pulled the visitors even with three-and-a-half minutes left in the half. The Raptors made just six field goals in the quarter, but held on to lead 56-48 at halftime. The Sixers chipped away at Torontos lead and pulled to within 76-74 with 1:35 to go. But Lowry grabbed a rebound and found a sprinting DeRozan with a court-long pass for a layup. The play seemed to inject some life into a sagging home team. On the Raptors final possession, Lowry grabbed his own rebound for a nice tip shot at the buzzer that gave Toronto an 83-76 lead heading into the fourth. NOTES: Chuck Hayes, also acquired from Sacramento in the trade, didnt dress as he was required to undergo baseline cardiac testing. . .The Raptors are in Chicago to face the Bulls on Saturday, then return home to host the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday. Cheap Diamondbacks Jerseys Cheap Braves Jerseys Cheap Orioles Jerseys Cheap Red Sox Jerseys Cheap Cubs Jerseys Cheap White Sox Jerseys Cheap Reds Jerseys Cheap Indians Jerseys Cheap Rockies Jerseys Cheap Tigers Jerseys Cheap Astros Jerseys Cheap Royals Jerseys Cheap Angels Jerseys Cheap Dodgers Jerseys Cheap Marlins Jerseys ' ' '