Sergio to Sign Wednesday
posted: 7/3/2006 at 10:13 PM
As I told you yesterday, Sergio Rodriguez, who was taken late in the first round by the Trail Blazers will indeed be playing in the NBA next season and will not be staying in Europe. I can't tell you how many messages I've received asking that question, and I was happy yesterday to finally be able to give you all an answer. It's also great that all of you Rodriguez fans in Spain have taken the time to investigate "Spanish Chocolate's" new team, and thanks for contacting me in the process, and reading the blog.
Sergio will arrive today, and with sign with the Trail Blazers tomorrow. At least that's the plan. He will even get a chance to head to Las Vegas and be around the summer league team for an afternoon before heading back to Europe to meet up with his national team. They are getting set for the World Championships, which are in Japan this summer. So, even though Rodriguez won't be playing with the summer league team, I think it's important that he will get a chance to meet everyone, including the coaching staff. I plan on talking to him when I get to Las Vegas on Wednesday, and hopefully we can get his comments on tape and have them for you on trailblazers.com. I'll do my best.
I'm already anticipating the next set of questions from you fans. My guess is you're thinking something like, "with Sergio on the roster next season won't that give the Trail Blazers four point guards?" The answer is yes. Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack, Dan Dickau, and Sergio. You could even say there are five, because Brandon Roy can play the point and plans to get plenty of work at that position in Las Vegas. Flexibility is always a nice thing to have at any position, and obviously Portland now has that at the point. What they do about that, if anything, will be decided in the near future.
So, Ben Wallace is headed for the Chicago Bulls. That is great news for Blazers fans hoping to see Joel Przybilla return to Portland. Wallace's signing doesn't mean Joel is back, by any means, but it does remove the Bulls from the Przybilla chase. Chicago was one of the few teams that could have offered significantly more than Portland. There are still several teams out there chasing Przybilla. Who should you really worry about now? If I had to guess, I'd say San Antonio. The Spurs have liked Joel for some time, and even though they can't quite offer what the Blazers can, they can come close, and obviously playing next to Tim Duncan is a nice selling point. The Trail Blazers have already made their formal pitch to Joel, and from what I heard, it went very well. The recruitment process continues on a daily basis. It will not be an easy decision for Joel to make. He is agonizing over it as we speak. He told me as much on the phone on Sunday night.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy have still yet to sign their contracts with the Trail Blazers, so they haven't taken part in the pre-summer league camp in Lake Tahoe to this point. Even though there is a rookie scale, and signing them won't be a problem, these things sometimes take a little longer than you would think. There are still some details that need to be worked out, but I'm confident they will be, and the two players will be taking part in Las Vegas.
Brian Wheeler is in Lake Tahoe with the summer league team, and I talked to him a short time ago to get an update on how things went on Monday.
Here is Wheels' Report.
"The Trail Blazers had just one practice today, after going through two-a-days the first couple of days. It's still too bad that Aldridge and Roy aren't here, but they will be soon, or at least will join us in Las Vegas. As for everyone else, it was just another day to prepare and learn the system before games start later this week.
Martell Webster continues to make an effort to be a leader on this team, and is showing some assertiveness. He is very talkative during practice and has almost been like another coach on the floor. It's been great to see.
Travis Outlaw always seems to thrive in this enviornment and has played well in past summer leagues. He still has a lot of work to do, but it appears his shot has improved, and he's in good physical condition. It's a great opportunity for Travis right now, and he's coming up on a big, big season in his career.
Ha, who wasn't in the best shape possible last year at summer league, appears to be much better this week. The biggest thing about Ha that stands out to me, is that he's so much more comfortable with the language and the culture and is maturing as a young man. It's great to see him take coaching, understand it, and then immediately apply it to his game. It'm very curious to see how he plays against some of the other big men in Las Vegas.
Speaking of big men, Joel Freeland has played well in practice so far. He runs the floor very well, has a great shooting touch, and is much more physical than I expected him to be. One of his complaints about the EuroLeague is that they don't allow physical play. He says he fouled out of a lot of games last season, and was always in foul trouble. He loves the NBA because they let you bang a lot more. That's encouraging coming from a 19-year old who needs to add muscle. It sounds like he's certainly willing to mix it up. Also, Nikoloz Tskishvili has looked good, and is excited to be here. He sees what a great opportunity this is for him, and has a great attitude.
By the way, I've been wanting to get you a summer league roster, and here it is."
12 LaMarcus Aldridge F/C 6-11 245 R Texas
4 Brandon Bowman F 6-9 223 R Georgetown
17 Sean Dockery G 6-2 185 R Duke
14 Joel Freeland F 6-10 225 R Gran Canaria Fadesa (Spain)
24 Fred House F 6-5 210 Southern Utah
5 Ha Seung-Jin C 7-3 305 2 South Korea
25 Travis Outlaw F 6-9 220 3 Starkville HS (Miss.)
16 Marque Perry G 6-1 185 St. Louis
42 Kevin Pinkney F 6-10 245 Nevada
33 Hector Romero F 6-7 225 Venezuela
7 Brandon Roy G 6-6 215 R Washington
11 Nedzad Sinanovic C 7-3 225 Bosnia & Herzegovina
38 Nikoloz Tskitishvili F 7-0 225 4 Georgia (Europe)
8 Martell Webster G/F 6-7 233 1 Seattle Prep
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Thank you Mike!!! I was expecting a blog new like this, since the draft night. Sergio needs and deserve everyone to know him, and anything better than news, news, and motre news about him. He won't dissapoint you, Blazers fans, be sure of that.
Brandon Bowman scored the 8th best as an athlete in Orlando Pre-draft camp this year. With a 34 in vertical and 24 bench reps he will also be intertesting to watch. Any word on if he is signed by the Blazers or just on the summer league team?
sergio rodriguez is the best playmayker in portland trail blazers and in the draft 06
Hi Mike & company!!! Here I am writing in your blog again from Spain, something that I'm very happy of.
Apparently, Sergio Rodriguez will be flying out to Portland by the time you get this from me. And I gotta tell you that according to what I've read and heard in the papers and radios over here, he is eager to come over to Portland to get to know the city and his new teammates-to-be. And of course, the coach Nate and the rest of the staff too.
To all those who don't know Sergio's character, I'll tell you that he will come across to tou as a down-to-earth and very likeable guy that you Blazers'fans are gonna love forever. I can assure that.
If Sergio is dying for the next NBA season to get started, I can't tell you in words how eager we all Spanish basketball fans are too!!!! We are all loking forward to it!!!
And finally, this might sound romantic, but it's true: a piece of our hearts is a Blazer from now on. GO BLAZERS, GO!!!!!
whats the deal with bowman and dockery?
Mike,
I was just writing to say Thanks for your Blog. I enjoy reading it each day. It fills us in on what we need to know. Thanks
Its great to hear HA is doing well, i liked him since his first game with the Reign, I hope he does great in the Summer League! GO BLAZERS!
ps nice info on Freeland too.
Several years ago in spain we were sure Pau was going to be an important player in NBA and now we think Sergio is born to play there (like Navarro , Garbajosa, Calderon or Fran Vazquez),by the way remenber: the next pearl from spain in nba draft 2007 will be Rudy Fernandez. Perhaps due to his age and his physichal weakness it will take him two or three years but his skills are NBA for sure.
Does anybody know if Nedzad Sinanovic can play at all? If Joel heads to detroit (or San Antonio) it seems like he might be a cheap stop-gap for the season if portland winds up high and dry at center. Also, if HA isn't yet ready to play even a back-up center roll, is he ever going to be? We could sure use some minutes from him at the 5 spot this season. Is Nedzad Sinanovic such a project that he can't even sit the bench for portland but HA can? I think that Nikoloz Tskitishvili sounds interesting too, has never really been given minutes in the NBA from what I can tell. He's listed as a forward but who knows?
Love the blog mike, me and my family cant wait to be watching the new blazers this season with you calling the games!
It's good to see that somebody is interested in reporting us about Sergio. Because in the web is difficult to be in the know about that. In Spain, news arrives with a bit 'lag', so.. Thanks Mike!!
P.D. Did you see what a enormous receiving has any word about Sergio? We are expecting....
One more from me today now that I've heard the news that Przybilla is staying. What a day! The new look Blazers will have a welcomed familier face starting at the center spot!! I think that Joel will stay healthy this year and have the best season of his career. Everytime I see Joel swat away a lay-up or grab his fifth rebound of the first quarter I sure am glad we have the big guy down there. I doubt that Joel ever reads these but just in case I have to say: THANK YOU JOEL! Looking forward to see you in the blazers starting line up for the next few seasons at least!
Hey Mike, I wonder if you think that Nate is going to give Travis Outlaw more playing time this season?. He did really good on the last few game before the season end. And due to you, he has improved alot, I think he deserve more minutes.
Thanks for all of the info Mike!
Please pass the word on to Joel that we in Portland really appreciate his excellent play and welcome him back with open arms. We are thrilled he has commited to sign with the Blazers for the next few years!! Please tell him he made a great decision and with him at the post our future looks much brighter and things will progress quicker than any of us thought. Thanks for all of the good work!!
Scott
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