The Trailblazers have sent 21-year old rookie forward Luke Babbitt to the D-League. Babbitt has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 3.8 minutes, 0.8 points and 0.5 rebounds per game. Babbitt is only shooting 20% (2 of 10) from the floor and he is 1 of 6 (16.7%) from three point range so far this year. This is a smart move for the Blazers as Babbitt will get some P.T. to refine his game in the D-League.

The Trailblazers have signed 35-year old center Sean Marks. Marks played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Hornets last season and he averaged 5.4 minutes, 0.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. He has now played in 201 games (11 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 10.3 minutes, 3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Marks will likely get pressed into duty right away due to Francisco Oberto’s retirement and the fact that Marcus Camby is a tad dinged up.

35-year old center Fabricio Oberto has decided to retire due to a heart condition. Oberto played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Blazers this year and he averaged 9.0 minutes, 1.4 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. Dante Cunningham will likely see a bump in P.T. until one of the injured centers (Greg Oden or Joel Przybilla) come back. Rookie guard Elliot Williams will also miss the rest of the year with a dislocated right patella. Williams didn’t get into any games for the Blazers this year.

The Trailblazers have sent 22-year old point guard Jerryd Bayless to the New Orleans Hornets for a future first round pick. The pick is protected if it’s in the top 7 in 2011 or the top 8 in 2012, 2013 or 2014. So the Blazers got pretty good value for Bayless. Bayless played in 74 games (11 starts) for the Blazers last season and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 8.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He played in 127 games (11 starts) in his two years with the Trailblazers in which he averaged 15.4 minutes, 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Rookie Armon Johnson & Elliot Williams along with Patrick Mills will duke it out to see who backs up Andre Miller this year.

The Trailblazers have signed 35-year old center Fabricio Oberto. Oberto played in 57 games (20 starts) for the Wizards last season and he averaged 11.4 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He has now played in 331 games (128 starts) in his five years in the NBA and he has averaged 14.6 minutes, 3.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. The Blazers hope that Oberto can give them 15-20 decent minutes at center until the Blazers get some of their injured centers back.