September 28, 2004

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed center Theo Ratliff to a multi-year contract extension. As per team policy, terms of the contract were not announced.

“We are delighted to have secured the services of Theo Ratliff, perhaps the best defensive player in the NBA, for the foreseeable future,” said Trail Blazers General Manager John Nash. “From the time he arrived in Portland, we identified with Theo’s superior play on the floor and his lifestyle and character off the court as a member of the Portland community.”

"I'm very happy to be here. My family and I decided that this was a city we wanted to stay in. I think we have great talent on this team and we can go far. It's a great team and a great city," said Ratliff.

The 6-foot-10, 235-pound Ratliff played 32 games for Portland last season after being acquired along with Shareef Abdur-Rahim in a February trade with the Atlanta Hawks. He averaged 7.3ppg, 7.3 rpg and 4.41bpg. For the season, Ratliff averaged 7.9ppg, 7.2rpg and a league-leading 3.61bpg, the third time in four years he has led the NBA in blocked shots. He was named Second-Team All-NBA Defense for 2003-04 and finished third in the balloting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Ratliff was the first Trail Blazers league stats leader since the 1993-94 season. In just 32 games with Portland last season, he rejected 141 shots, an all-time franchise best average of 4.4bpg. The previous high was 3.2bpg by Bill Walton during the 1976-77 season. Ratliff’s blocked shot total as a Trail Blazer was the most for one season since 1992-93 and was the sixth highest season total in franchise history.

He blocked six or more shots 12 times last season, the top 12 one-game efforts on the team. Ratliff tied Walton and Mychal Thompson for the franchise record for most blocks in one game when he swatted nine shots at Orlando on February 2, 2004.

Originally selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round (18th pick overall) of the 1995 NBA Draft, the 31-year-old owns career averages of 8.7ppg, 6.4rpg and 2.81bpg in 559 games. Not counting the 2001-02 season when he sat out all but three games due to a hip injury, he has been in the league’s top 10 in shot blocking for each of the last six seasons. Ratliff is one of only six players in NBA history to have led the league in blocked shots three or more seasons.

Press conference audio

Press conference video

Notes from the press conference

Interview with Theo