Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed forward Shavlik Randolph to a 10-day contract, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

Randolph, 26, has appeared in two games for the Trail Blazers this season, totaling four points, a rebound and an assist in five minutes before being waived Jan. 6. He was originally signed on Dec. 30.

Portland’s roster now stands at 16 players.

(Due to injuries, the Blazers have an exception from the league that allows them to have more than 15 players.)

Jason Quick of The Oregonian reports (via blog):

Trail Blazers practice on Thursday was halted nearly 60 minutes into the workout when veteran point guard Andre Miller and coach Nate McMillan engaged in a shouting match that lasted for nearly 30 minutes.

Miller shouted throughout the exchange, and McMillan mostly listened, but at times broke in with shouting of his own.

One of the topics discussed was an incident late in Tuesday’s game with Memphis, when Miller told Jerryd Bayless to make his second free throw with 4.3 seconds left and the Blazers trailing by two. The coaching staff and team captain Brandon Roy told Bayless to miss the free throw so the Blazers could attempt to rebound and make a tying basket.

The Portland Trail Blazers have waived forward Shavlik Randolph, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

Signed by Portland on Dec. 30, Randolph appeared in two games for the Trail Blazers this season, totaling four points, a rebound and an assist in five minutes.

Portland’s roster now stands at 15 players.

The Portland Trail Blazers recalled guard Patty Mills from the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

In two games since being assigned to the Stampede on Dec. 29, Mills posted averages of 30.0 points (21-37 FG, 11-15 3-PT) and 7.5 assists in 34.0 minutes off the bench.

In his first professional game, Mills led all players with 38 points and 12 assists on Jan. 1. The 6-0 guard’s put-back with 1.2 seconds remaining gave the Stampede a one-point win on Jan. 3.

Mills, selected by the Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft, will join the Trail Blazers for Monday’s game at the L.A. Clippers.

In a pair of roster moves, the Portland Trail Blazers waived forward Anthony Tolliver and assigned guard Patty Mills to the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

Tolliver appeared in two games for the Trail Blazers, grabbing a rebound in four minutes. He was called up from the Stampede on Dec. 17 after the NBA awarded Portland a hardship exemption.

Mills, selected by the Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft, will join the Stampede on Wednesday. The Australian national fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot during an NBA Summer League practice session July 9. He underwent surgery on July 13 and recently completed a successful rehabilitation.

The Trail Blazers’ roster now stands at 15.

Portland Trail Blazers center Joel Przybilla underwent successful surgery today to repair a ruptured right patella tendon and will be out for the remainder of the 2009-10 season, it was announced by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

The two-hour surgery was performed by Dr. Don Roberts at Southwest Washington Surgery Center in Vancouver, Wash. Przybilla is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for the Trail Blazers Fall Training Camp.

“Joel has been a pillar of our team and he is now on the road to recovery,” said Pritchard. “We believe very strongly in Joel and look forward to his return next season.

“We are also grateful and appreciative, especially here during the holidays, that we have such talented and caring doctors associated with our team. Dr. Roberts and Dr. Tom Reis have done an impeccable job of caring for our team during these challenging times.”

The injury occurred at the 3:12 mark of the first quarter in Tuesday’s 85-81 win at Dallas.

Przybilla, 30, averaged 4.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.43 blocked shots in 30 games (nine starts) this season.  He ranks among NBA leaders in rebounds and blocked shots per game, and places second on the team in both categories. Przybilla recently put together a stretch of six straight games with 10-plus rebounds from Dec. 11-20.

He ranks sixth all-time in Trail Blazers history with 593 blocked shots.

Joe Freeman of the Oregonian reports (via blog):

Just when you think it can’t get any worse for this injury-depleted Trail Blazers team, it suffers yet another significant setback Tuesday night in Dallas.

In the first quarter of their game against the Dallas Mavericks, Joel Przybilla landed awkwardly and violently on his right leg beneath the basket and had to be helped away from the American Airlines Center court by two teammates.

Shortly after halftime, the team announced that Pryzbilla had suffered a ruptured right patella tendon and patella dislocation. He is out indefinitely.

The Portland Trail Blazers today signed Anthony Tolliver of the Idaho Stampede.  Tolliver is the second Call-Up of the 2009-10 NBA Development League Season, and joins 65 other NBA players with NBA D-League experience.

Tolliver has appeared in all seven of Idaho’s games this season, averaging 20.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 36.9 minutes.  He has recorded three double-doubles this season, including a season-high 30 points, to go with 11 rebounds, in a win over the Reno Bighorns on Nov. 30.  For his efforts, Tolliver was named NBA D-League Co-Performer of the Week for games played Nov. 27-Dec. 6.

The Call-Up marks the second of Tolliver’s career, as he was signed by the New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 21, 2009.  Prior to his call-up last season, Tolliver appeared in three games for the Iowa Energy, averaging 10.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 28.3 minutes.  Before joining the Energy during the 2008-09 campaign, Tolliver played in 19 games for the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.9 minutes.  During his time with the Spurs, Tolliver was assigned to the team’s NBA D-League affiliate Austin Toros where he saw action in six games and averaged 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists.

A four-year contributor at Creighton University, Tolliver averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 124 career games.  As a senior, he averaged 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks in 33 games en route to being named First-Team All-MVC, to the MCV All-Tournament Team, earning the Senior CLASS Award All-America honors and a nod as a Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America.

Tolliver is expected to join Portland today and be available tonight when the team hosts the Phoenix Suns at the Rose Garden.