With the Blazers’ final pick in the NBA Draft they selected a guard that can really put the ball in the basket. Patrick Mills is only 20 years old and he’s on the small side at 6′0″, 185 pounds but he knows how to play offense. Mills played in 58 games in two seasons and St. Mary’s (California) and he averaged 16.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He will likely back up Brandon Roy this season.

The Trailblazers appear to be collecting power forwards with the selection of Dante Cunningham in the second round of the NBA Draft. The 22-year old Cunningham played in 139 games in his four years at Villanova and he averaged 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.2 steals per game. He will have to battle Jeff Pendergraph for minutes this season.

The Trailblazers acquired this pick from the Kings in the Sergio Rodriguez trade. The Trailblazers found themselves a polished power forward in Jeff Pendergraph. The 22-year old played in 126 games in four seasons at Arizona State and he averaged 12.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.0 block per game. Pendergraph will be a backup as a rookie but he could be much more than that down the road for the Blazers.

The Blazers have traded 23-year old point guard Sergio Rodriguez along with the 38th pick in the NBA Draft and cash considerations for the 31st pick in the NBA Draft. Rodriguez played in 80 games (13 starts) for the Blazers last season and he averaged 15.3 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. In three years with the Trailblazers, Rodriguez played in 219 games (14 starts) in which he averaged 12.4 minutes, 3.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Rodriguez has been blocked in Portland so maybe a change of venue will be good for him. It will be interesting to see what the Blazers do with the pick they got in this trade.

True, Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez are technically rookies despite starting their careers a tad late due to Oden’s injury and Fernandez playing as a pro overseas but they have both been good so far this season. Rudy Fernandez has been playing a lot as a rookie this season. He has played in 15 games for the Blazers this season and he is averaging 27.2 minutes, 11.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He shows the potential to put even better numbers up than he already is in the near future. Greg Oden is rounding himself into shape while showing off the power that made the Blazers pick him number #1 two drafts ago. He has played in 9 games for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 19.6 minutes, 8.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Oden will be a double-double player this season if he can just stay healthy. G/F Nicolas Batum is known as a defensive player but he has a little game on offense. He has played in 15 games for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 15.0 minutes, 5.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Point guard Jerryd Bayless has not had much of an opportunity to show what he can do yet this season. He has played in 5 games for the Blazers and he is averaging 7.3 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The sky is really the limit for this batch of rookies the Blazers are trotting out in 2008-09.