Blazers take conservative approach in draft

TUALATIN, Ore. — Kevin Pritchard may have a reputation as a draft-day wheeler and dealer.

But when Thursday night’s NBA Draft had ended, the Portland Trail Blazers general manager showed he could play it conservatively as well.

Pritchard’s typical aggressive first-round maneuvering was replaced by the drafting of a European player who might not join the Blazers for one or more seasons.

The usual flurry of trades took a back seat to one minor move designed to open a roster spot and better position the team for free agency. And the core of the rotation was left largely untouched for the first time since Pritchard began orchestrating the team’s drafts three years ago.

"Anytime you make a trade and you’re looking to move up, you have to give away, or give up, pieces. We’ve worked so hard to get to where we’re at, we don’t feel that that’s the thing to do," Pritchard said.

"If there was a good one available, we’d have done it. We have no problem picking. We like adding talent. But we like this team. It wasn’t as important as it’s been in the past to be aggressive to move up."

Instead, the Blazers’ deals were designed to position the team for future decisions rather than to reshape the roster.

In one of two minor trades, point guard Sergio Rodriguez was sent to Sacramento along with Portland’s No. 38 pick in the draft, in exchange for the Kings’ No. 31 selection.

The move freed an extra $1.5 million in salary cap space and could leave the Blazers as much as $8 million under the cap when free agency negotiations begin next month.

A day earlier, Portland improved its first-round position by two spots when it swapped the No. 24 pick and two second-rounders with Dallas for the No. 22 spot.

But Pritchard said that was done specifically to secure Spanish forward Victor Claver, whom Portland had targeted for a couple years and worked out prior to the 2008 draft.

An athletic 6-foot-9 forward with range on his jump shot, Claver averaged 8.4 points and shot 65 percent (26 of 40) from the field in 15 games for Pamesa Valencia of the Spanish ACB League last season, but had the year cut short by a foot injury.

Pritchard said he did not have a time table for bringing the 20-year-old over from Spain, but said it was certain that he would not join the Blazers for next season.

"He’s young, but he has a very high ceiling," Pritchard said. "We like size; we think that makes a difference in our league. And in a couple years, we hope to have him over."

The two players who Pritchard said have the best chance of making next year’s team were a pair of early second-round selections: Forwards Jeff Pendergraph of Arizona State (drafted 31st) and Dante Cunningham of Villanova (drafted 33rd).

Pendergraph led the nation in field-goal percentage last season at 66 percent (198 of 300), and he finished sixth on the Sun Devils’ career scoring list with 1,588 points.

Cunningham was named the Big East’s Most Improved Player last season when he averaged a career-high 16.1 points and 1.2 blocks.

But it was the way they battled during a workout in Portland that sold Blazers officials on the pair.

Participating in the same workout as lottery pick Tyler Hansbrough, Pritchard said Cunningham and Pendergraph showed the type of toughness that the team learned it needed during a playoff loss to Houston in April.

"It was war, and it was at the tail end of the workouts, and those guys get really tired in those times," Pritchard said. "It was all-out war. And we need to bring that to our team. We need to bring that toughness. The guys who aren’t scared to play, they aren’t scared to play in big games and have been part of successful programs."

Portland also grabbed speedy 6-foot St. Mary’s guard Patrick Mills, who competed on the Australian National Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Pritchard said that international experience was an important factor in the Blazers’ decision to draft Mills with the 55th pick.