The Trailblazers are a veteran laden team, so they don’t have much P.T. available for their rookies this year. 23-year old SG/PG Nolan Smith has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 6.5 minutes, 3.8 points, 0.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He has a nice upside, but he’s going to have to wait a while to show it. 22-year old Elliot Williams missed all of last season due to injury, so the NBA considers this his rookie year. Williams has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 5.0 minutes, 2.3 points and 0.3 rebounds per game.

In fairness to the Trailblazers’ rookies, none of them got consistent P.T. in 2010-11. 22-year old point guard Armon Johnson played in 38 games (0 starts) for the Blazers this year and he averaged 7.3 minutes, 2.9 points, 0.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He shows potential to be a solid backup point guard in the NBA down the road. 21-year old small forward Luke Babbitt was a complete mess this year. He played in 24 games (0 starts) for the Blazers this year and he averaged 5.7 minutes, 1.5 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Babbitt was one of the biggest bricklayers in the NBA this year as he only hit 27.3% of his shots from the floor, 18.8% from the 3-point line and 33.3% from the free throw line. Until he starts shooting better, I don’t see him having much of a role with the Blazers. 25-year old center Chris Johnson was a late pickup for the Blazers this year. He played in 10 games (1 start) for the Trailblazers this year and he averaged 10.6 minutes, 2.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Johnson played in 14 games (1 start) overall this year for the Celtics & Trailblazers and he averaged 9.9 minutes, 2.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Johnson might be able to hang on with the Blazers next season as a backup big. 21-year old shooting guard Elliot Williams missed his whole rookie year due to a knee injury. If healthy, he might be able to help the Blazers next year. The Trailblazers are going to need more production out of this group next season and down the road.

The Trailblazers are a veteran team with the playoffs in mind. That’s why they don’t have much P.T. for the rookies. 22-year old point guard Armon Johnson has played in 32 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 7.2 minutes, 2.8 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.2 assists per game. 21-year old small forward Luke Babitt has been just sent back to the D-League. Babbitt has played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers so far this year and he is averaging 4.8 minutes, 1.1 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. 21-year old shooting guard Elliot Williams has not played in a game due to injury and he’s going to miss the entire year.

The Trailblazers have sent 21-year old rookie forward Luke Babbitt to the D-League. Babbitt has played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers so far this year and he is averaging 4.8 minutes, 1.1 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. He had the reputation coming out of college of being a good shooter but he hasn’t shown that so far this year in Portland. Babbitt is shooting 28.6% from the floor, 9.1% from three point range and 28.6% from the free throw line so far this year. Hopefully by getting minutes in the D-League he will be able to sharpen up his game a bit before he returns to Portland.

The Trailblazers have sent 21-year old rookie point guard Armon Johnson to the Idaho Stampede of the D-League. Johnson has played in 28 games (0 starts) for the Blazers so far this year and he is averaging 8.1 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. But, in January, Johnson has only played in 1 game in which he played five minutes and grabbed two rebounds without scoring any points. It was smart of the Blazers to send Johnson to the D-League so that he can get P.T. I think they will call him back up if he gets off to a good start in the D-League.