Mills awarded 15th and final spot on Trail Blazers roster; Udoka and Collins to be waived on Thursday The Trail Blazers have finalized their 2009-10 roster, filling the 15th spot with unheralded and injured point guard Patrick Mills. Ime Udoka and Jarron Collins, who had been competing for the spot, will be waived Thursday, sources told The Oregonian. It was a surprising decision by the team, which was thought to be leaning heavily toward Ime Udoka, a small forward who was a starter for Portland in 2006-07 and whose defensive skills have long been valued by coach Nate McMillan. Instead, the team opted for Mills, a 6-foot guard who was the 55th overall pick in this summer's NBA Draft. As a sophomore at St. Mary's last season, Mills averaged 18.4 points before breaking his right hand, which ended his season with nine games remaining. This summer, he broke his right foot in the first day of summer league practice with the Blazers. Mills will join the Blazers on Friday in Tualatin. However, he doesn't figure to contribute to the team this season because of his youth and his foot injury. Early in training camp, McMillan said he wanted the 15th spot to go to an experienced player who could offer depth to the young Blazers. Mills, who was valued highly by owner Paul Allen, has resumed shooting activities but is not expected to be cleared for running and contact drills for at least six weeks. Both Udoka and Collins practiced with the Blazers on Wednesday, but did not board the team's 3 p.m. flight to Vancouver, B.C. for Thursday's exhibition finale against the Phoenix Suns. The move saves the Blazers about $350,000 in salary, a negligible amount of money when considering the Blazers' payroll is around $58 million this season. Mills stands to make around $457,000 this season, while veterans like Udoka or Collins would have made just more than $1 million, of which only $797,000 would have been paid by the Blazers. The remaining money comes from an NBA pool that covers veteran expenses. It was thought that Thursday's game in Vancouver would be the final chance for Udoka and Collins to make an impression. Udoka, because of his past experience with the Blazers when he earned the trust of McMillan, was thought to be the front runner. He plays physical defense and is a reliable three-point shooter. Udoka was the last roster invitee to the Blazers camp that season, and he not only made the team, but also went on to start 75 games. He played for San Antonio the past two seasons. In the first seven preseason games, Udoka did nothing to hurt his cause, averaging 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 19 minutes a game. Collins, a center who has played eight seasons, all with Utah, was trying to make the roster as insurance in case Greg Oden or Joel Przybilla became injured. He averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 14 minutes over four preseason games. General manager Kevin Pritchard declined to comment and coach Nate McMillan was unavailable for comment. http://tinyurl.com/yg3mrkv -- Udoka 和 Collins 被裁，第15個位子給了 Mills KP我果真猜不透你啊，選擇留第四PG的 Mills 卻不留第三中鋒的 Collins 可憐的 Uodoka 和 Collins，這算"半路殺出程咬金"嗎?? --

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