You'll definitely want to tune in to this weekend's edition of Sports Business Radio and hear my conversation with Portland Trail Blazers President Larry Miller. Miller has spent the last 15 years working in the sports apparel industry growing the brands of companies like Jantzen, the JORDAN brand (as in Michael Jordan's Nike brand, where Miller was the President) and Nike Basketball (Miller was the VP and GM for Nike Basketball overseeing their global business when he left the company to accept the Trail Blazers job in June).

Miller is well known at all levels of the basketball world and he is one of the brightest executives in sports when it comes to growing a brand.........and making sure its authentic.

And its no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers are looking to re-brand themselves after nearly a decade of off the court player incidents and embarassing situations that turned off many fans and corporate sponsors.

Miller is stepping in to a rapidly improving situation though due to the work of Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard (who has overhauled the roster and brought in a group of young, talented, likeable players) and COO Mike Golub (who has done a tremendous job of getting out from behind his desk to engage business and community leaders in conversation). But Larry Miller is looking to take these efforts to the next level and lend his expertise.

It certainly doesn't hurt when the number one draft pick lands on your franchise's lap like it did this past summer and you've got a charismatic player like Greg Oden to build your brand around. And NBA Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge will be cornerstones of the branding efforts moving forward as well.

Larry Miller has worked closely with quite possibly THE biggest brand name in all of sports - Michael Jordan. As President of the JORDAN brand Miller also helped bring superstars like Derek Jeter, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul under the JORDAN umbrella as brand endorsers.

If you listen to SBR regularly, you hear me talk often about "true power brokers in the world of sports". These are people that may not be household names, but who certainly wield a tremendous amount of power and respect in the sports world. Larry Miller is one of those people.

And the great news for the Trail Blazers is that he "gets it". Larry is as down to earth as anyone you'll meet. And after several regimes of brash upper management types, he's just what the doctor ordered for the rebuilding Trail Blazers franchise.

So take a few minutes and get to know Larry Miller this weekend on Sports Business Radio. I promise it will be worth the listen.

I'll also catch up with Jeff Ma from PROTRADE.com and "Bringing Down the House" fame. Ma joins me monthly on SBR and this week we'll chat about the worth of Alex Rodriguez. Is A-Rod worth $30M? We'll debate the topic on this weekend's show.

Talk to you this weekend!