SEATTLE -- Where's Brian?

For many NBA teams, when a starter is not playing due to injury, it becomes the focus of the team.

	Even if Brian Grant doesn't play, Portland is loaded.

Imagine the Lakers without Shaq. The Sonics without Gary Payton. The Captain without Tennille -- you get the idea.

But on this year's Portland Trail Blazers, a group so loaded with talent that during the preseason when they put in their scrubs, it becomes apparent that they have no scrubs, the fact that Brian Grant is still out recovering from offseason knee surgery has not been the focus of the Blazers' preseason.

Grant is supposed to return to the team by the start of the regular season on Nov. 2 in Vancouver. But as of now, the 6-foot-9 five-year veteran has been attending practices, but primarily to lift weights and ride a stationary bike -- not play basketball.

Though the power forward helped guide the Blazers to the Pacific Division title last season and was impressive during the playoffs, he suffered soreness in his knee throughout the postseason, which ended when the Spurs swept Portland in the conference finals. Grant had surgery on his knee cap after the playoffs and his recovery was further hampered when an upper respiratory infection required hospitalization about three weeks ago.

Though the Blazers have been blowing through the preseason and the team features an impressive bench, Portland looks forward to Grant's return.

"We need him back," said Detlef Schrempf, who is one of the key additions to the team and returned to KeyArena on Tuesday night for the first time since leaving the Sonics this offseason. "He's our workhorse, he does the dirty work. At times it shows and we look forward to having him back."

While they wait for his return, the Blazers are adjusting to their new team members -- Schrempf, Scottie Pippen from Houston and Steve Smith from Atlanta -- and the absence of Kelvin Cato (Houston), Walt Williams (Houston) Jimmy Jackson (Atlanta) and malcontent Isaiah Rider (Atlanta). Defensive specialist Stacey Augmon also returned to the Blazers last week after a whirlwind of being traded by Portland to Houston, before being dumped by the Rockets and returning to the Blazers.

Though their style might not vary much from last year, Portland's offseason moves have improved an already loaded team.

"I don't know how much different we'll be, I think we're just going to be better," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We're a better passing team, we're a better open-court team. We've got even more versatility. We can play with different lineups if we'd like. We can match up with anybody in any way."

	“	Keeping everybody happy is going to be a focus and everybody is going to have to make sacrifices.”
		— Detlef Schrempf

And a key addition will be Pippen. The 12-year veteran left the Rockets -- and his contentious public exchange of words with Charles Barkley -- behind him when he joined Portland. Pippen's extensive championship experience should help the Blazers, who are expected to compete for the title this year.

"I'm happy to be here, it's a great group of guys," said Pippen about his new teammates. "I enjoy Portland so far."

And it doesn't hurt that Pippen finds himself surrounded by talent like Damon Stoudamire, Arvydas Sabonis, Rasheed Wallace, Grant and Smith.

"I like the fact that we have a lot of depth, that's important when you're trying to win the championship," Pippen said. "I just want to try and use my leadership on the court to try and help this team."

So far the transition appears to be going pretty smoothly. At times, Portland looks so deep that it seems to be toying with other teams.

Like on Tuesday in their win over the Sonics -- the Blazers maintained a comfortable lead throughout the game, but became complacent in the fourth quarter. Seattle closed to within two points and then the Blazers woke up. Almost at will, Portland got back-to-back steals and converted them into dunks to give the team a six-point lead. It never let the Sonics in the game again.

"Guys at the end responded well and defended and made some good plays," said Dunleavy after the win.

That would be an understatement.

The scary thing about the Blazers is that they can sport a huge lineup with Pippen, Wallace, Grant and Sabonis so they can hurt teams inside, but they also have a plethora of players that can hit from outside, like Smith, who was 4-for-5 from three-point range Tuesday night.

"One night someone's going to go out and have a great game and the next night somebody else is going to step up. That's the greatest thing about having so much talent," said Pippen. "No one is complaining about getting enough minutes, and no one has to carry any type of load by themselves."

And that's a good thing. The one thing this team might struggle with is keeping all of this talent focused -- sort of like trying to keep a group of Mensa members mentally challenged.

"We've got a bunch of good players. Just looking at the roster, it's pretty impressive," Schrempf said. "Keeping everybody happy is going to be a focus and everybody is going to have to make sacrifices."

But if they can find a way to make those sacrifices and keep everybody focused -- there are worse problems -- they could go far. If nothing else, they are sure fun to watch in the process.