The Blazers selected Taurean Green in the 2nd round with the #52 overall pick in the NBA Draft.  Green is a little on the small side at 6′0″, 177 pounds but that didn’t impair him to much at Florida so he should be able to handle the NBA.  Green played in 111 games at Florida and he averaged 10.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He was a good long range shooter as he hit 40.1% from the floor, 38.9% from three point range and 85.6% from the free throw line.  Green will find playing time hard to get in Portland as a rookie as he will be behind Jarrett Jack, Stevie Francis and Sergio Rodriguez at point guard.

The Blazers drafted Josh McRoberts in the 2nd round of the draft with the 37th overall pick.  McRoberts is a big guy at 6′10″, 240 pounds and he played at Duke so he’s probably a smart guy.  He will likely back up LaMarcus Aldridge at power forward this season for the Blazers.  At Duke, McRoberts played in 69 games and he averaged 10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  McRoberts made 54% of his shots from the floor, 27.8% of his three-pointers and 66.4% of his free throws.  He was another solid pick by the Blazers.

The Trailblazers traded guard Derrick Byars who was drafted in the 2nd round and sent some cash to the 76ers for the rights to shooting guard Petteri Koponen from Finland who was selected with the 30th pick in the first round.  Kopenen played in 104 games in Finland and he averaged 7.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game.  Kopenen appears to be a decent shooter as he has hit 44.1% from the floor, 38.4% from three point range, and 79.5% from the free throw line.  Kopenen will have the same problems that Rudy Fernandez will have in getting playing time as the Blazers are stocked with shooting guards.

For the second season in a row the Trailblazers bought a player originally drafted by the Phoenix Suns.  Last season point guard Sergio Rodriguez was bought with cold, hard cash.  This season the Suns drafted Rudy Fernandez with the 24th pick in the first round and sold him to the Blazers.  Fernandez is a shooting guard who has been playing in Spain the last few seasons.  He’s 6′5″, 185 pounds and he can run the floor and is a good shooter.  He has played in 125 games in Spain and he averaged 13.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.2 blocked shots.  Fernandez shot well in Spain as he hit 46.7% from the floor, 36.7% from three point range and 83.4% from the free throw line.  It will be hard for Fernandez to find minutes as a rookie behind Brandon Roy, Stevie Francis and Juan Dixon.

With the first pick of the NBA Draft the Trailblazers drafted another cornerstone for their very bright future in Greg Oden from Ohio State.  Oden will be the starting center from Day #1 for the Blazers.  All he did in his freshman season was lead his team to the National Championship game, which they lost to the Florida Gators.  The 7′0″, 250 center played in 32 games at Ohio State and he averaged 15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.6 steals and 3.3 blocks per game.  He shot an amazing 61.6% from the floor but most of his shots were putbacks and dunks which is fine with the Blazers.  He only shot 62.8% from the free throw line but look for that to improve this season.  Because of a right wrist injury last season he shot his free throws one handed.  Look for Oden to be a finalist for the Rookie of the Year Award this season and he could develop into MVP candidate down the road.