Portland Trailblazers: 2009 NBA Draft

2008-09 Record: 54-28

Draft Picks: 24, 32, 38, 55

Key Free Agents:

Channing Frye (Restricted)

Raef Lafrentz

Shavlik Randolph

Michael Ruffin

How They Got Here:

Despite the crazy hype going into the season, the Blazers somehow managed to exceed expectations. And to think, they got very little out of Mr. Glass Greg Oden, they didn’t trade Lafrentz’s enormous expiring contract and 2005 No. 6 overall pick Martell Webster played five minutes this season. What they did get is Brandon Roy emerging as a legit franchise player, Lamarcus Aldridge doing Lamarcus Aldridge type things and surprisingly strong play from Steve Blake and less heralded rookies Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez. We’ve been saying it a lot lately but, Oden or no Oden, the future is bright.

What They Need:

Probably just depth. They are a little thin on scoring in the rare occasions where Roy or Aldridge aren’t on top of their game and some Steve Blake insurance is probably needed. But again, with Webster coming back, Jerryd Bayless likely stepping into a bigger role and the assimilation process continuing with Batum and Rudy Fernandez, the rotation is basically set for next year and the Blazers should be looking to trade, take some risks or just upgrade a bench player.

Who They'll Take:

A veteran scorer that won’t shake up chemistry. Sam Young or DaJuan Summers would be nice, especially if said scorer can play a little bit of defense like Summers can. With the uncertainty of Oden’s health and the Pryzbillian nature of Joel Pryzbilla, it would make sense to get some big man depth somewhere in the draft too, especially with the team unlikely to match any offer that Channing Frye is fortunate enough to receive. A guy like BJ Mullens would be oh-so ironic. And it’s also not totally insane for the Blazers to take Tyler Hansbrough, just throwing it out there.

Portland Trailblazers Draft History (since 2001)

2008: Brandon Rush (13, traded to Indiana for Jerryd Bayless), Darrell Arthur and Joey Dorsey (27 and 33, both traded to Houston for Nicolas Batum), Omer Asik (36)
2007: Greg Oden (1), Josh McRoberts (37), Taurean Green (52), Demetris Nichols (53) 2006: LaMarcus Aldridge (2), Brandon Roy (6), Sergio Rodriguez (27), Joel Freeland (30)

2005: Martell Webster (6), Linas Kleiza (27), Ricky Sanchez (35)

2004: Sebastian Telfair (13), Viktor Khryapa (22), Ha Seung-Jin (47)

2003: Travis Outlaw (23), Nedzad Sinanovic (54)

2002: Qyntel Woods (21), Jason Jennings (43), Federico Kammerichs (51)

2001: Zach Randolph (19), Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje (50)