Hooped Up

Derrick Rose is going home, and a record crowd of freshmen are following him to the NBA. The Chicago Bulls selected Rose, who grew up on the city’s South Side, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.  Below are the rest of the NBA draft results.

Round 1 NBA Draft Results

Second round results after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

The draft deals have officially started with the Portland Trail Blazers making a move to secure more young talent.

The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to acquire the 27th pick of Thursday’s NBA draft from the New Orleans Hornets for cash considerations, according to an online report.

A Blazers source told ESPN.com late Tuesday that the teams reached a verbal agreement and will finalize the deal Wednesday.

The Blazers also hold the 13th pick in the first round.

Sporting News

More set backs in the Rudy Fernandez saga.

Rudy Fernandez got injured during the Semifinals against FC Barcelona. He hurt his right elbow and a MRI should tell us more how bad it really is - in 15 days as the web site says. I know Blazers fans, as soon as you hear the word MRI you turn away - I am sorry. For all European fans - there is much more news and rumors going on in Spain and at Joventut. We heard through the grapevine that head coach Aito will leave the club soon.

BallInEurope

Hopefully he mends up before the season opener for the Blazers.

The Trail Blazers took the first steps Monday toward deciding the future of forward Darius Miles by asking the NBA to appoint an independent doctor to determine whether Miles’ right knee injuries are career-ending. Miles, who hasn’t played in nearly two years, said earlier this season that he was healed and ready to play. The team, however, has said it is concerned about Miles’ long-term health and his ability to play.

Oregonian

The Blazers, who have been hurt this season by inconsistent play at the position, did more than window shop for a point guard at the Feb. 21 trading deadline. A Western Conference source said the Blazers heavily pursued Toronto point guard Jose Calderon, only to have their offers rebuffed by the Raptors. Pritchard, the general manager, hemmed and hawed last week before saying it’s too early to pass judgment on Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriguez. And McMillan, the coach, paused before diplomatically saying each point guard excels in a different area of the game.

Oregonian

It is no small coincidence that the Blazers nine-game winning streak directly coincided with coach Nate McMillan’s decision to move Brandon Roy to point guard. The move happened before the Dec. 3 game at Memphis, and since then the Blazers are 9-0, with Roy averaging 24.2 points, 7.0 assists and 5.8 rebounds while shooting 51.8 percent from the field. Roy’s effectiveness with the ball in his hands raises the question that I have been trumpeting since last season: Is Brandon Roy the point guard of the future for this Blazers team?

Oregonian

Bobby Medina, in his 11th year in Portland as their strength and conditioning coach after five years with Seattle, says Oden reminds him of a young Shawn Kemp or Jermaine O’Neal in terms of work ethic.

“Greg’s a monster in the weight room,” Medina says. “I’m not at all worried about his (weight). Once he gets into his cardio, running up and down, he’ll be fine – he’s an active guy.”

“Right now is a tough time because all he can do is ride a bike and do a little work in the water. But when he gets to the point where he can run, he’ll lose some weight and keep all the muscle and his tone.”

“We don’t want him to be a football player. We want him to keep his athleticism, but he needs to be strong at that position.”

Oden gets that sheepish grin when asked how he’s doing.

“Right now, I’m just enjoying being big,” he says. (Don’t you just love this guy?)

“I’m the strongest I’ve ever been,” he adds. “I hope I can stay that way, but that I’ll be able to get my weight down after I’m able to start running again. Jay (Jensen, the Blazer trainer) says I can do that at four months, so I’m a few weeks away.”

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=KhI7VYV9-_Q]

Darius Miles may be one step closer to rejoining the Blazers.

The small forward returned to practice Wednesday, taking the court for the first time in 13 months.

Miles worked in one-on-one drills with rookie Josh McRoberts and did individual work with assistant coach Bill Bayno before pronouncing himself 90 percent healthy.

“I’ve been patient for a year, actually, a little bit over a year,” Miles told reporters. “So it’s been very hard.”

Miles underwent microfracture knee surgery just before the 2006-07 season and missed much of the previous season after tearing the meniscus in his knee.

There has been some speculation floated out there that the Blazers could become involved in helping the New York Knicks unload disgruntled Stephon Marbury in exchange for the bloated contracts of Darius Miles and Raef LaFrentz. Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard chuckled at the idea on Thursday, saying he could bring up the “C-word” (culture) as a reason, but instead, he opted to comment on the current team.

Oregonian