Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed forward J.J. Hickson, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey. We’ll post contract details here later today.

The Trail Blazers signed Hickson, 23, on March 21 for the remainder of last season after he was waived by Sacramento on March 19. He appeared in each of Portland’s final 19 games in 2011-12, including 10 starts.

“J.J. played very well for Portland late last year and we’re pleased to be able to bring him back for another season,” said Olshey. “He’s a very special athlete that will offer some depth on the front line and we expect him to pick up where he left off in April.”

Last season with Portland, Hickson averaged 15.1 points (54.3% FG), 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.95 blocks in 31.6 minutes per game. He led the Trail Blazers in rebounding and field goal percentage, while ranking third in scoring during his time in Portland. Hickson’s six double-doubles in the month of April tied for sixth in the NBA.

In four NBA seasons with Cleveland, Sacramento and Portland, Hickson has compiled averages of 9.0 points (49.0% FG), 5.8 rebounds and 21.3 minutes in 277 games (158 starts). He was originally selected by the Cavaliers with the 19th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed forward Victor Claver, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A native of Valencia, Spain, Claver joins the Trail Blazers three years after the team selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft.

“Victor is a player with a high basketball IQ who will come in as a good complement to our roster,” said Olshey. “He defends well for his size, has a nice shooting touch, and we look forward to having him on board.”

A member of the Spanish national basketball team that will compete in the 2012 London Olympics this summer, Claver (6-10, 235) joins the Trail Blazers from Valencia in the Spanish ACB League, where he averaged 8.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.22 steals and 25.8 minutes in 37 ACB and Eurocup games. In six seasons with Valencia, Claver posted averages of 7.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.99 steals and 22.2 minutes.

Claver, 23, won the 2010 Eurocup Rising Star Award, an honor given to the most outstanding young player in the competition.

He will wear No. 18 with the Trail Blazers.

Larry Miller, the top executive of the Trail Blazers for the past five years, has resigned as president and will return to Nike, The Oregonian has learned.

Miller, 61, had two years remaining on his contract with the Blazers, but he informed owner Paul Allen of his resignation on Friday. Miller we rejoin Nike later this summer as president of Brand Jordan, the same title he held from 1999 through 2006.

“It felt like it is the right time, and the right thing for me,’’ Miller said Saturday morning.

Affable and well-liked within the walls of the Blazers, Miller was an understated leader who preferred to stay out of the limelight while allowing his employees to do their jobs. He was an engaged president with both his staff and the public, easy with conversation in the office and quick with a handshake on the concourses of the Rose Garden, where he often roamed before games. His style improved morale and bridged a divide between the front office and fan base after the rigid and confrontational reign of Steve Patterson, his predecessor.

— Reported by Jason Quick of the Oregonian 

The Trail Blazers delivered a direct and emphatic message to free agent Nicolas Batum during a downtown meeting Thursday afternoon: Batum will remain with the Blazers.

A trio of Blazers executives, led by general manager Neil Olshey, met with Batum and agent Bouna Ndiaye and told the 23-year-old forward that they intend to keep him in a Blazers uniform no matter what other teams offer him or propose to the team in trades.

“We told Nic that it is in his best interests to sign with us,” Olshey said.

— Reported by Jason Quick of the Oregonian

Lillard’s workout wowed the Blazers’ officials, cementing the Weber State product’s spot at the top of their wish-list for the No. 6 pick, which Portland used to draft him Thursday. Even with North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes — a player many ranked higher in the draft pecking order — still available when Portland’s spot came up, general manager Neil Olshey said there was not strong sentiment in the draft room to shift the pick to Barnes.

“Not as much as you’d think,” Olshey said.

The Blazers were that focused on Lillard as their top choice for the No. 6 spot. In fact, Portland’s second choice for the No. 6 pick was gone by the time the Blazers turn came (Olshey declined to identify the player, but did confirm he was drafted ahead of Lillard).

Although the Blazers performed a lot of advance work in getting down to Lillard, the June 15 visit was the tipping point. Buchanan said the Blazers put Lillard through a variety of situations that tested his footwork and his ability to get his shot off – coming off screens, on the run, off the catch, and so on.

— Reported by Mike Tokito of the Oregonian

The Portland Trail Blazers have extended a qualifying offer to forward Nicolas Batum, it was announced today by General Manager Neil Olshey.

Batum will become a restricted free agent on July 1, ensuring that the Trail Blazers will have right of first refusal should another team try to sign him. The move gives Portland the right to match any contract offer he will receive.

Batum, 23, holds averages of 10.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 26.2 minutes in 255 games (202 starts) with the Trail Blazers over four NBA seasons. A native of Lisieux, France, Batum was acquired by Portland in a draft day trade with Houston in June 2008.