By: David Kay
2008-09 Season Summary:
The Trailblazers made their expected jump into the elite of the Western Conference but they didn’t take the planned route to get there. After drafting Greg Oden two years ago and then losing him for the year and still improving by 9 games, the addition of two elite rookies to their already young team was enticing. However, Oden was nowhere near the impact player he was expected to be and Jerryd Bayless was less than influential. Rudy Fernandez was the impact rookie to go along with Brandon Roy’s leap into one of the league’s best players and LaMarcus Aldridge’s continued progress that led the Blazers to a 13 game improvement and a return trip to the play-offs for the first time since 2003.
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