Portland Trailblazers Make Final Preseason Roster Moves

Added on Oct 26, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NBA

The Portland Trailblazers start the 2010-2011 NBA season on Tuesday night, and less than 24 hours before tip off the team finalized its opening night roster. With centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla still rehabilitating their season ending injuries from last year, the Blazers badly needed depth at center and hope they’ve filled that need with the signing of Fabricio Oberto.

A native of Argentina, Oberto has been a very serviceable NBA player. He played with the Washington Wizards last season and spent four years with the San Antonio Spurs before that. He was the starting center on the Spurs’ championship team in 2007. He also played on the Argentine national team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and also the bronze medal-winning team in 2008 Beijing. His NBA career stats–3.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 14.6 minutes in 331 games. He could be in a perfect situation in Portland, as he’s in a position where he won’t need to score much and can focus on rebounding and defense.

A good showing could keep him on the team even after Przybilla and Oden return. Both players are practicing with the team, but Przybilla is expected to be back first and is already participating in full contact scrimmages. The Blazers are being extra careful with Oden, and there’s currently no timetable for his return to the lineup.

To make room for Oberto, the Blazers made the tough decision to wave second year forward Jeff Pendergraph. Pendergraph had become a fan favorite in his short time in the Rose City, and the Blazers were big on his talent and work ethic. Unfortunately, he suffered a season ending knee injury in the preseason and with the team already carrying two injured big men on the roster the numbers didn’t work out. Portland GM Rich Cho released this statement:

“We want to thank Jeff for his hard work and professionalism since he arrived here in Portland, and we wish him a fast and successful recovery from his injury. We sometimes have to make difficult decisions in this business, and this was certainly one of them.”

Pendergraph responded on Twitter with his characteristic class:

“Thanks blazer fans, I had a great first year with you guys. See yall in the summer maybe.”

Obviously much can happen between now and then, but assuming Pendergraph recovers as expected from his knee surgery it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back in Portland uniform down the road. In any case, he’ll be playing in the NBA sooner rather than later–he’s got all the talent necessary for the pro game and the sort of personality, professionalism and overall likability that is far too rare in pro sports.