The Trailblazers just couldn’t resist making a trade with the Pacers to get the player they wanted in the draft all along. Jerryd Bayless will likely be the perfect running mate in the backcourt for Brandon Roy. He is 6′3″, 200 pounds so he will be able to post up some smaller guards and he’s very fast with the ball. He’s not a pure point guard however as he likes to get his points too. Bayless played in 30 games (all starts) in his freshman year at Arizona and he averaged 19.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Watch out for the Blazers this coming up season.

The Trailblazers acquired rookie point guard Jerryd Bayless and power forward Ike Diogu from the Pacers for guard Jarrett Jack, rookie shooting guard Brandon Rush and F/C Josh McRoberts. The Traiblazers will give Bayless every chance to win the starting point guard job this season and give Brandon Roy a running mate that can keep up with him. Diogu is a 24-year old power forward who is very strong at 6′8″, 255 pounds. Diogu has a huge upside as he is a very talented player. He just hasn’t gotten much of a chance to show what he can do on the court. Diogu played in 30 games (1 start) last season for the Pacers and he averaged 10.3 minutes, 5.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Diogu has now played in 158 games (17 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 13.3 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. Look for Diogu to have increased minutes for the Blazers this season and he will produce. This was a good trade for the Trailblazers.

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.