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Rudy Fernandez wants out of Portland. The Blazers realize he is very disgruntled and are speaking to teams about getting him out of there. But the talks have likely been put on hold until Sunday. (Jason Quick, Oregonian)

Rudy trade talks likely on back burner until Sunday. GM Cho tells agent Andy Miller he will meet w/coach McMillan in Vegas on Sun to discuss.

In another new update, the Blazers reportedly may not be against keeping Fernandez on the team and forcing him to honor his contract in Portland. (The Columbian)

Sources also said it is highly unlikely that Fernandez will be waived or that the situation will dissolve to the point that he is placed on the NBA’s suspended list. And while Portland will not hesitate to trade him in either a one-for-one or package deal if a promising proposal is made, the Blazers are also going through the process with the knowledge that Fernandez could be on the roster for the foreseeable future as the team explores a multitude of options.

Before that report, it had seemed inevitable the Blazers would trade Fernandez away. It still seems almost a given that they will. Even in the report that discussed the potential of Fernandez staying in Portland, a source was quoted as saying that both sides know it’s “time for a divorce” and are on the same page.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that there has been little progress in talks for Fernandez and that “there has not been a significant change in ongoing negotiations between the sides during the past week.” That contradicts CelticsBlog’s report yesterday, which claimed the Celtics were in the “lead position” in the trade talks and had been in serious discussions with Portland since Tuesday.

In other news, one of the three teams who had reportedly showed interest in Fernandez does not seem to have the assets to make a deal happen. While the Blazers likely are looking for a first round pick in the trade, the New York Knicks can’t trade next year’s pick (thanks Isiah) because of a rule keeping teams from trading first round picks in successive years. The Knicks traded their 2010 pick all the way back in 2004, and thus can’t trade their 2011 draft choice. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Knicks are out of the running, it just means they are limited in what they can offer.

So while there is really no news in the Portland talks as they have been put on the backburner until Sunday, the Celtics seem to be jockeying with the Bulls for top position. By the way, I can’t even begin to describe how miserable writing about the offseason is. I’ve probably written 15,000 words on Rudy Fernandez and another 20,000 on Matt Barnes. I can’t wait until I can write about legitimately good players again.