Summer league roster is starting to shape up as here are the projected players that have either been reported over the radio or in newspaper links so far:

Guards: Jeryld Bayless, Petteri Koponen
Forwords: Nicolas Batum, Frederico Kammerichs
Centers: Steven Hill

Blazers are trying to get Sergio Rodriguez to participate

Frederico Kammerichs, 28, 6′8″, 225 lbs., SF. Kammerichs averaged 7.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 23%-3P%, 46%-2P%, 60%-FT% in Europe for Polaris. Drafted in the 2nd round in 2002 with the 51st pick by the Blazers.

Steven Hill, University of Arkansas, 7′0″ center. Hill averaged 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game as a senior at Arkansas.

Monday, July 14 - Portland vs. Washington (Cox Pavilion, 5 PM)
Comcast SportsNet Replay: 7/14 @ 10 PM and 7/15 @ 9 AM

Tuesday, July 15 - Portland vs. Sacramento (Cox Pavilion, 7 PM)
Comcast SportsNet Replay: 7/15 @ 10 PM and 7/16 @ 9 AM

Thursday, July 17 - Portland vs. Minnesota (Cox Pavilion, 7 PM)
Comcast SportsNet Replay: 7/17 @ 10 PM and 7/18 @ 9 AM

Saturday, July 19 - Portland vs. Phoenix (Cox Pavilion, 7 PM)
Comcast SportsNet Replay: 7/19 @ 10 PM and 7/20 @ 2 PM

Sunday, July 20 - Portland vs. New Orleans (Cox Pavilion, 5 PM)
Comcast SportsNet Replay: 7/20 @ 9 PM and 7/21 @ 10 PM

Rush’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told The Associated Press about the deal Thursday night, shortly after Portland picked Rush.

Bayless was selected 11th overall. The Pacers also sent forward Ike Diogu to Portland.

The Pacers boost their point guard position by acquiring Jack. They had already agreed in principle to trade Jermaine O’Neal to the Toronto Raptors for point guard T.J. Ford, O’Neal said Thursday.

The Pacers also get a hometown hero in McRoberts, who starred at Carmel High School near Indianapolis.

Rush, whose brother Kareem plays for the Pacers, averaged 13.3 points per game last season for national champion Kansas.

Ike Diogu.

Click here to read more…

LA Clippers really want OJ Mayo on their team. Mayo’s body and maturity for the game is NBA ready for any team that selects him. Clippers are trying to demonstrate to Corey Maggette and Elton Brand that even if they opt out, that they should resign with the Clippers. With OJ Mayo, Corey Maggette, Al Thornton, Elton Brand & Chris Kaman the Clippers will be a serious contender for a playoff spot.

The recent rumor has the Clippers offering their #7, Clipper’s own ’09 1st (lottery protected) and Minnesota owes to Clippers ’09 1st (top 10 lottery protected). Here are two scenarios:

Scenario #1

#13 (Kosta Koufos / Robin Lopez), Raef LaFrenz, Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack to Minnesota
#3 (OJ Mayo)
#7 (Anthony Randolph ), Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner & two 1st ’09 picks to Portland

Portland’s lineup at the start of pre-season:

Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden
Marko Jaric, Rudy Fernandez, James Jones, Channing Frye, Joel Przybilla
Sergio Rodriguez, Greg Buckner
NBDL: Petteri Koponen, Josh McRoberts, Anthony Randolph
Antoine Walker (buy-out)

Scenario #2

#13 (Kosta Koufos / Robin Lopez), Raef LaFrenz, Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack to Minnesota
#3 (OJ Mayo), Marko Jaric & Greg Buckner to LA Clippers
#7 (Anthony Randolph ), Antoine Walker, Shaun Livingston & one 1st ’09 pick to Portland

Portland’s lineup at the start of pre-season:

Steve Blake, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden
Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez, James Jones, Channing Frye, Joel Przybilla
Shaun Livingston
NBDL: Petteri Koponen, Josh McRoberts, Anthony Randolph
Antoine Walker (buy-out)

#13 (Kosta Koufos / Robin Lopez), Raef LaFrenz, Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack to Minnesota
#3 (OJ Mayo), Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner to Portland

Minnesota lineup:
Randy Foye, Corey Brewer, Martell Webster, Al Jefferson, (Kosta Koufos / Robin Lopez)
Bench: Sebastian Telfair, Jarrett Jack

Salary breakdown
.’08-’09…….’09-’10…….’10-’11
$12.72M…………………………………….Raef LaFrenz
$03.77M…..$05.03M…………………..Martell Webster
$02.00M…..$02.90M…………………..Jarrett Jack
———…….———
$17.99M…..$07.93M………………….$25.92M

.’08-’09…….’09-’10…….’10-‘11
$09.32M…..$10.09M……$10.87M…..Antoine Walker (’09-’10 team option)
$06.58M…..$07.10M……$07.63M…..Marko Jaric
$03.76M…..$04.02M……$04.28M…..Greg Buckner
———…….———……——–
$19.66M…..$21.21M……$22.78M…..$63.650M

With a team option of Walker’s contract in ’09-’10, the Blazers could just buy-out the ’08-’09 season or try to trade Walker by Feb trade deadline. Also, with Miles contract no longer counting against the salary cap. Even with Jaric and Buckner’s contracts in ’09-’10, the Blazers will still have about $10M-$12M in salary cap space in ’09 to sign a very talented free agent.

You hear Kevin Pritchard use the terminology “50-40-90” like it is a combination to a lock of some secret formula. But in reality it is finding an offensive player with all-star qualities in 50% in Field Goal percentage, 40% in 3 point percentage and 90% in free throw percentage.

These numbers seem very basic, but are valuable numbers to evaluate a player’s offensive performance whether they are playing in the NCAA or in Europe as a guard or small forward. These numbers will give you a better ideal of the type of offensive player they will be in the NBA, then just looking for a player that averages 20+ PPG in college or Europe.

Here are some examples of current or future Blazers:

..FT%…..3P%…..FT%
50.8%….40.2%….81.0%….’05-’06….Brandon Roy, UofW, 33 games
56.5%….39.1%….94.1%….’07-’08….Rudy Fernandez, DKV Joventut, 15 gms
56.5%….43.4%….77.9%….’07-’08….Petteri Koponen, Espoon Honka, 45 gms

There is another combination I’m sure was handed down to Pritchard from other GMs in what they look for in college or European guards or SF players. It is “20-6-6”, 20+ ponts per game, 6+ rebounds per game and 6+ assists per game as it demostrates their all around skills and team player. Players who come close as in 16-18 PPG, 3-4 RPG, 3-4 APG in college or Europe will have a higher chance of being successful in the NBA averaging 20-6-6 in their professional career.

Lets take a look again at the current and future Blazers had done:

..FT%……3P%……..FT%……PPG…RPG…APG
50.8%…..40.2%…..81.0%…..20.2…..5.6…..4.1…..’05-’06……Brandon Roy
56.5%…..39.1%…..94.1%…..15.2…..3.4…..3.7…..’07-’08….. Rudy Fernandez
56.5%…..43.4%…..77.9%…..18.4…..3.3…..4.1…..’07-’08….. Petteri Koponen

Putting all 6 numbers together will get you closer to finding a star quality player. To understand why many consider Rudy the best player in Europe, we turn to the numbers. As former Blazer Asst. GM, Mark Warkentien used to say, “numbers don’t lie” when evaluating a player. Numbers will tell you more about a player then watching them in few games. Since Rudy is performing at the highest level of European ball you could assume he should do just fine in the NBA.

Just for historical data, here is what the past great all-stars and what their career averages as NBA players.

..FT%…..3P%……FT%…..PPG…RPG…APG
49.7%….32.7%….83.5%….30.1…..6.2…..5.3…..M. Jordan, CHI (13Y), WA (2Y)
52.0%….30.3%….84.8%….19.5…..7.2…11.2…..Magic Johnson, LA (13Y)
49.6%….37.6%….88.6%….20.2…10.0…..6.3…..Larry Bird, Boston (13Y)
47.2%….31.8%….78.8%….20.4…..6.1…..5.6…..C. Drexler, Ptld (12Y), Hous (3)
50.4%….32.2%….77.8%….28.7…12.1…..4.8…..Dr. J, VA / NJ (5Y) ABA
50.7%….26.1%….77.7%….22.0…..6.7…..3.9…..Dr. J, PHIL (11Y) NBA

On Brian Wheeler’s show tonight on 95.5FM, The Game, he mentioned he has a hunch that Kevin Pritchard is rumored to be looking for a big move on draft day and he has a hunch that it may not be Kevin moving up, but out of the draft.

One player that Brian hears that keep’s popping up in the rumors going around the NBA is Portland has Tayshaun Prince high on their list of young veteran players they are seriously looking at in acquiring on draft day.

Tayshaun Prince
Age 28, 6′9″, 215 lbs.
Talented all-around player - Good shooting skills - Can drive to the basket or shoot the outside shot - Excellent defender, voted NBA all-defensive 2nd team 3 years in ‘04-’05, ‘05-’06 & ‘07-’08

What will it cost the Blazers?

Rumored price at #13, Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack

for Tayshaun Prince & #29

The logical targets would be Derrick Rose or OJ Mayo for the Blazers as they are the most NBA ready and can play either PG/SG alongside Brandon Roy.

If you are Miami you need to get better fast with Dwayne Wade already indicating it would be difficult to stay on a team that is still rebuilding after ‘09-’10 season.

For the Wolves you want to get better with a winning team fast with the fan base dwindling. Right now the Wolves need a PF/C to go with Al Jefferson and also a SF..

Most logical selection for the Bulls is Derrick Rose, but I wouldn’t count out the biggest need the bulls need and that is an inside scorer and rebounder that Michael Beasley would provide.

For Miami, if Derrick Rose is available you would package:

- Jarrett Jack, Martell Webster, Channing Frye, #13 & ‘09 1st to Miami
- Mark Blount & #2

For Minnesota for OJ Mayo you would package:

- Jarrett Jack, Martell Webster, Channing Frye & #13 to Minnesota
- Troy Hudson & #3

If you could get your hands on Derrick Rose or OJ Mayo what players and/or picks would you give up on?

NBA ready now vs. potential star in 3-4 years. Brandon Roy vs. Andrea Bargnani

Majority of the teams in the lottery are looking for immediate help instead of waiting for a year or two for a player to be a major contributor. Players like Alexander, Arthur and even Speights may have impact on players like Randolph, Westbrook, Jordan and Greene being drafted in the lottery.

NBA Ready
Derrick Rose range 1-2
Michael Beasley range 1-2
OJ Mayo range 3-5
Brook Lopez range 3-5
Eric Gordon range 5-8
Kevin Love range 5-13
D.J. Augustin range 8-15
Joe Alexander range 8-15
Darrell Arthur 9-16
Marreese Speights range 14-21

Potential NBA in 2-3 years
Jerryd Bayless range 3-5
Danilo Gallinari range 5-8
Anthony Randolph range 5-10
Russell Westbrook range 7-13
DeAndre Jordan range 10-14
Donte Greene range 12-21
JaVale McGee range 14-21
Kosta Koufos range 14-24

So far Pritchard’s vision of drafting young foreign players and letting them develop in Europe for a 1-3 years or NBDL for 1-2 years is starting to pay off.

GMs|..MPG.|.PPG.|.2P%|3P%|.FT%.|.OR.|.DR|.TR.|.APR|SPG.|TPG|.BPG.|
.13..|15:36.|.07.5.|.70.0.|.00.0.|.61.9.|.1.8.|.1.9.|.3.8.|.0.2.|..0.8..|..1.5.|..0.5..| (1)
.15..|22:39.|.15.2.|.56.5.|.39.1.|.94.1.|.0.7.|.2.7.|.3.4.|.3.7.|..2.0..|..2.4.|..0.7..| (2)
.45..|35:30.|.18.4.|.56.5.|.43.4.|.77.9.|.0.3.|.3.0.|.3.3.|.4.1.|..1.8..|..3.0.|..0.1..| (3)
.15..|26.80.|.07.7.|.41.4.|.15.4.|.70.0.|.1.7.|.4.7.|.6.4.|.2.5.|..0.6..|..2.1.|..0.9..| (4)
.11..|11:27.|.04.5.|.40.6.|.50.0.|.83.3.|.1.1.|.2.4.|.3.5.|.0.5.|..0.4..|..1.3.|..0.5..| (5)

1) Freeland, Joel, age 21, 6′10″, 225 lbs., PF, England, (ULEB Cup - Kalise Gran Canariaz), Draft 2006 #30
2) Fernandez, Rudy, age 23, 6′6″, 175 lbs., SG, Spain, (ULEB Cup - DKV Joventut), Draft 2007 #24, Named MVP by helping his team win the ULEB Cup
3) Koponen, Petteri, age 20, 6′4″, 195lbs., PG, Finland, (Finnish Basketball Association - Espoon Honka Playboys), (Draft 2007 #30
4) McRoberts, Josh, age 21, 6′9″, 240lbs., PF, Duke (NBDL - Idaho Stampede), Draft 2007 #37, helped Stampede win the 2008 NBDL championship
5) Sinanovic, Nedzad, age 25, 7′1″, ???lbs., C, Bosnia - Herzegovina, (ULEB Cup - Köln 99ers), Draft 2003 #54

Adding Rudy Fernandez and Greg Oden to the rotation next year will require some movement of players or positions to get the best rotation. Rudy is a classic shooting guard and is not a point guard or small forward. Either the Blazers will need to move Brandon Roy to point guard or small forward. Roy helped fill some of the biggest need for the Blazers last season and that was being a part-time PG. Next season would be a good time to move him full-time into that role.

With Greg Oden in the middle and Nate proclaiming already that Greg will be the starting center next season. We will see the Blazer’s interior defense become better if the quicker guards get around Roy and Rudy. Next season Nate has said he is leaving that spot open as he expects Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and James Jones to compete for the starting position. I can see why Nate wants Martell to be more defensive minded, because if he is going to start at SF, there will not be that many plays or shots for him with the addition of Rudy and Greg to the rotation.

Unless the Blazers get another major player, the best thing is to continue to start Martell and let Travis come off the bench. The first team with the addition of Rudy and Greg looked like a better half court team than a transition team. Having Sergio Rodriguez and Steve Blake to the secondary team will help Travis and Channing Frye on the transition game for the second unit.

Having two different teams that can play half court and transition will make it harder on the other team’s defense and momentum.

Projected rotation (minutes)
Team 1:
Brandon Roy (35)
Rudy Fernandez (30)
Martell Webster (23)
LaMarcus Aldridge (35)
Greg Oden (30)

Team 2:
Sergio Rodriguez (15)
Steve Blake (16)
Travis Outlaw (25)
Channing Frye (13)
Joel Przybilla (18)