Welcome to Blazer Nation Patrick Mills

The final Blazer roster has been up in the air for awhile with the signing of point guard from Australia, Patrick Mills. There are only 15 spots on the roster and yesterday it was announced that the 15th spot was officially filled by Patrick Mills. This decision leaves Portland native, Ime Udoka teamless.
(Taken from The Blazers Beat)

Another layer of adversity was added to Ime Udoka’s NBA career on Wednesday, when the Trail Blazers informed the Portland native that he would be waived on Thursday in favor of injured rookie Patrick Mills.

“I’ve been through a lot in my career, and after all I’ve been through, I kind of thought these times were behind me,’’ Udoka said. “But I’m not going to sit around and be depressed. I’ve worked this hard and put in the work, and I have to be ready for the next opportunity. All I can do is hope one comes up.’’

Udoka said he is hoping to sign on with another team, and is awaiting word from his agent, Mark Bartelstein, who has been talking to other teams. Udoka said some potential suitors could be Oklahoma City, Denver, Sacramento and Utah.

“I’ve prided myself on being ready,’’ Udoka said of his five-year NBA career, which has included stints with the Lakers, Knicks, Blazers and Spurs. “I felt I played well enough when I did get the minutes this preseason.’’

Udoka averaged averaging 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19 minutes a game this preseason and appeared to be the front runner to secure the Blazers’ 15th and final roster spot. However, the competition took an unexpected turn last week when the Blazers followed NBA draft protocol and tendered an offer to Mills, which the point guard accepted.

That left the Blazers with a decision: go with an experienced veteran in center Jarron Collins, go with an experienced player who had earned the trust of coach Nate McMillan three seasons ago in Portland, or go with an inexperienced and injured guard in Mills.

Got to say, I'm a little shocked by this decision. Mills is an inexperienced rookie point guard, and Udoka is a veteran player who's not only a Portland, OR native but has also played with the Blazers before. You may recall he was apart of the infamous 'Jail Blazers' but he was one of the few players who has kept a good standing with the fans. (Call us bias ;-) )
I'm a little saddened by this announcement, as exciting as it is to have the possibility to see Patty Mills learn and grow with the Blazers, I am a big fan of Ime. I guess it was always exciting having a Portlander on the Blazers. So we definitely send him our best wishes and hope he is able to have a long, beautiful career with whichever team he joins next.

For those of you who might not know much about Udoka here's a little more from the article on The Blazers Beat:

Udoka was born and raised in Portland, attending Jefferson High and later Portland State. In the fall of 2006, on the day before training camp, he was non-roster invitee after a sprained ankle caused Aaron Miles to fail a physical.

As he began to impress the coaching staff in training camp with his physical defense and reliable three point shooting, McMillan informed Udoka he would start him at small forward for a preseason home game against Golden State. Hours before the game, Udoka’s father collapsed and died of a heart attack.

Playing with a heavy heart, yet still determined, Udoka not only made the Blazers roster, he ended up starting the first 75 games before a knee injury forced him to miss the last seven games. He averaged 8.4 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 40.6 percent from three-point range.

Peace out Udoka and WELCOME to the team Mills!
(Pictures from: Talk-Sports.net & Wordpress)