Blazers Waive Raymond Sykes And Steven Hill

by Ben Golliver on Oct 20, 2010 7:20 PM PDT in News

The Portland Trail Blazers have informed the media via text message that they have waived center Steven Hill and forward Raymond Sykes. The moves reduce Portland's training camp roster to 16 players.

Both cuts were expected as the players were in camp on non-guaranteed contracts. Sykes was first named to the training camp roster back on Sept. 22. Hill was a late addition, arriving in town on Oct. 11, shortly after Jeff Pendergraph went down with a season-ending ACL tear.

The Blazers must make one more cut prior to the start of the regular season to get down to the 15-man roster maximum. Point guard Patty Mills is the most obvious candidate to be waived, barring any late-breaking trades that open a roster spot. Mills has only appeared in 3 preseason games, averaging just 4.3 minutes in those appearances.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

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so what did Hill even do with us?

"Oh Yeah!" ~ Kool Aid Man

by PDXBuckeye on Oct 20, 2010 7:25 PM PDT reply actions

he got injured

PHILLY!

by CleBlazer on Oct 20, 2010 7:29 PM PDT up reply actions

in practice?

before he got here?

in one of our road games?

"Oh Yeah!" ~ Kool Aid Man

by PDXBuckeye on Oct 20, 2010 7:42 PM PDT up reply actions

idk when

but i did hear that he got hurt and couldn’t make the road trips to seattle and oakland

PHILLY!

by CleBlazer on Oct 20, 2010 7:47 PM PDT up reply actions

next should be a nobrainer unless we decide to waive 2 players

by Captain fruit on Oct 20, 2010 7:25 PM PDT reply actions

I saw this little note at the bottom of Mike Tokito's article

McMillan spent a long stretch of time at the end of practice working one-on-one with Nicolas Batum as the forward worked on several offensive moves, including post-ups, pull-up jumpers and jab-step moves. It was an unusual personal tutorial for McMillan.

Good to hear

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 20, 2010 7:32 PM PDT reply actions

Our front court right now is Camby - Aldridge - Cunningham - Batum, so he'll need to get some post work

"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban

by Norsktroll on Oct 20, 2010 7:39 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't want Nic posting up other PFs

I just want him to keep the other team honest, so they won’t try to hide their PG on Batum like the Suns did with Nash. Roy and Miller have a size mismatch on a lot of NBA guards, so Portland should always keep the pressure on the other team and grind those little PGs into the hardwood

pull-up jumpers and jab-step moves

Sounds like Travis’ old repertoire. Monty’s gone so Sarge is takin’ charge of Frenchy’s future

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 20, 2010 7:50 PM PDT up reply actions

He could be a terror against slow-footed backup PFs taking them off the dribble

But he still gives up quite some bulk and experience against a lot of them

"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban

by Norsktroll on Oct 20, 2010 7:59 PM PDT up reply actions

the Outlaw role

I don’t like it as a long-term option, but Joel will be back fairly soon and he and Camby will cover the center position so LMA and Dante can cover most of the 4.

If the other team wants to play small, Portland has more than enough options and Nic at the 4 is just one of them

the main thing I took away from the news of Nate/Nic working out is that Batum is not just going to be standing in the corner, this season

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 20, 2010 8:04 PM PDT up reply actions

Should do alright against Channing this Tuesday.

Stealth > Wealth

by 500dogs on Oct 20, 2010 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Waiving Steven of NAZERETH

Biggest mistake ever. No one got hurt while he was on the squad.

by doomsdaymachine on Oct 20, 2010 7:39 PM PDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs

except him apparently

"Oh Yeah!" ~ Kool Aid Man

by PDXBuckeye on Oct 20, 2010 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions

Why did patty only play in 3 games?

The Faith don't panic, the Faith freaks out, burns out small farms and villages in the name of the Faith.

by faith on Oct 20, 2010 7:41 PM PDT reply actions

cause we have 90 guards

and 15 roster spots

"Oh Yeah!" ~ Kool Aid Man

by PDXBuckeye on Oct 20, 2010 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

if we sign another promising guard project

I’m going to infinitely projectile vomit on top of the rose garden for a month straight…

Geriatric Dunk Squad!
1/4/10 - Juwan Howard dunks on Chris Kaman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTkOqDgLb6s
3/7/10 - Andre Miller Tomahawk jams on the Denver Nuggets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-JVgm7F1QA
4/12/10 - Marcus Camby drops 30 and 13 on OKC to cement 50 wins. http://www.nba.com/blazers/media/camby_chant_041310.mp3

by Eat Politicians on Oct 20, 2010 7:50 PM PDT up reply actions

This just in!

Blazers trade Rudy and Dante for Rodrigue Beaubois!

(Kidding)

Stealth > Wealth

by 500dogs on Oct 20, 2010 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions

i would love that

Bat88m

by RyanRTE on Oct 20, 2010 8:18 PM PDT up reply actions

FerReal?

I dig Roddy B. too, but I couldn’t part with Dante right now. ’Sides, I bet Armon will be just as good.

Stealth > Wealth

by 500dogs on Oct 20, 2010 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions

I like Dante too

But Roddy could be a really nice player.. I already like what he brings to the table and he’s still very raw, a potential Roddy-Batum French connection would be sweet.

Bat88m

by RyanRTE on Oct 20, 2010 8:44 PM PDT up reply actions

yeah, or maybe that sergio rodriguez guy

i hear he is good…

by Eat Politicians on Oct 20, 2010 8:58 PM PDT up reply actions

Madrid fans disagree after he went 3 for 13 in his first Euroleague game and got the worst efficiency rating

"Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing" - Mark Cuban

by Norsktroll on Oct 20, 2010 10:52 PM PDT up reply actions

apparently you didn't get the implied html code so I'll add it here

/sarcasm

by Eat Politicians on Oct 21, 2010 1:39 AM PDT up reply actions

Pendy

should go before Mills.

Patty could bring back an asset in the right scenario, his contract doesn’t become guaranteed for a while, and meanwhile, he can be a practice asset, helping the team prepare for quick, yet small, play-makers.

Pendy was a borderline prospect before his latest, major setback. Cho can bring him back to Summer League, if he is so inclined.

by damonrayhymer on Oct 21, 2010 8:09 AM PDT reply actions

Who's going to write the postmortem

on Steven Hill?

by damonrayhymer on Oct 21, 2010 8:12 AM PDT up reply actions

he can be a practice asset, helping the team prepare for quick, yet small, play-makers

Let Johnson do that, Mills isn’t needed anymore

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 21, 2010 8:45 AM PDT up reply actions

I'd probably be well-situated, driving the AJ bandwagon,

if the Blazers were the kind of franchise that let fans watch the SL team, televised preseason games, and voided the Comcast monopolistic stranglehold.

AJ, according to sources, has all the game (except shooting), and I’m excited for his potential. Pendy is done. Mills, on the other hand, has enough game that Udoka was set adrift last year.

Allen might not be interested in marketing his product, or his sponsors, to the general public here in Portland, but he knows a great PG when he sees one. You, twofer,might consider yourself an amateur GM, but in Paul I trust.

by damonrayhymer on Oct 21, 2010 9:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Mills, on the other hand, has enough game that Udoka was set adrift last year.

Allen might not be interested in marketing his product, or his sponsors, to the general public here in Portland, but he knows a great PG when he sees one. You, twofer,might consider yourself an amateur GM, but in Paul I trust.

Bwahahahaha!

If Paul knew a good PG, don’t you think Portland would have drafted and developed one (just ONE) in the 20+ years that Allen has been the owner?

The reason I prefer Johnson over Mills is simple: defense. Armon can guard most any PG in the league and many of the smaller SGs. Patty is size-challenged. I’ve seen enough of the two of them play against each other (Fanfest, Garfield HS scrimmage first half video) to not have any worries about letting Patty go, mate. 3 PGs on one roster are more than enough

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 21, 2010 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions

Of course, I agree w/ you.

My point is that Pendy, who’s expiration date has now come and gone, should go first. I would cut him loose, and then Mills, if and when we procure a fresh, old big.

3 PG’s is too many, though. I agree again. Perhaps we should go to 14.

by damonrayhymer on Oct 21, 2010 1:32 PM PDT up reply actions

I'd waive them both, as well

but I thought you were thinking about giving Jeff’s roster spot to Patty, and that’s an Idea that makes we want to hurl. Not that Mills is a bad player per se, it’s just the team needs size and toughness, not a whippet

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Oct 21, 2010 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions