Dante Cunningham, Jeff Pendergraph and Patrick Mills all played well when called upon this year but the Blazers didn’t use any of them much. 22-year old power forward Dante Cunningham played in 63 games (2 starts) for the Blazers this season and he averaged 11.2 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Pendergraph played in 39 games (4 starts) for the Trailblazers this year and he averaged 10.4 minutes, 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds per game and he shot an amazing 66.2% from the floor! 21-year old point guard Patrick Mills played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers this year and he averaged 3.8 minutes, 2.6 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

The rookies of the Trailblazers are stepping up when called upon. Power forward Dante Cunningham has played in 45 games (1 starts) for the Blazers this season and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game on 50.6% shooting from the floor. Fellow power forward Jeff Pendergraph has also been effective when he has gotten the chance to play. Pendergraph has played in 29 games (4 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game on 64.4% shooting from the floor. Point guard Patrick Mills was recently called up from the D-League. He has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 2.3 minutes, 1.2 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

The Blazers have been rolling with the veterans so far this season. Forward Dante Cunningham has gotten the most playing time of the rookies so far this year. He has played in 23 games (1 start) for the Blazers this season and he is averaging 10.0 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. With the recent injury to LaMarcus Aldridge the Blazers have been starting to give some minutes to Jeff Pendergraph who is showing that he can handle the job. He has played in 8 games (2 starts) for the Trailblazers so far this season and he is averaging 18.5 minutes, 4.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game on 64% shooting from the floor. Look for his playing time to continue to increase as long as he keeps playuing well. Point guard Patrick Mills has only played in 1 game for the Blazers working 5 scoreless minutes with 2 assists. Don’t expect much out of him as he is #4 on the Blazers’ depth chart at the point.

The Trailblazers want to win a NBA title this season so they won’t likely have much time for rookies this year. 22-year old forward Dante Cunningham has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers so far this season and he is averaging 2.0 points per game. Cunningham is the only rookie to have played in a game for the Blazers so far this season. 21-year old point guard Patrick Mills and 22-year old power forward Jeff Pendergraph will likely be watching a lot of games from the bench this season.

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.