Fernandez Cleared to Play - Patty Mills Back to D-League

Brian T. Smith doing his usual sweaty coverage full of notes and awesomeness...

Good news for fans of Rudy Fernandez...

In addition, Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez said he felt fine after a Wednesday morning shootaround at the team's practice facility, and expects to play tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Rose Garden. As a result, the Blazers upgraded Fernandez to probable.

Patty Mills headed back to bombing 3's and dominating the minors...

The Portland Trail Blazers assigned rookie guard Patty Mills today to the team's NBA Development League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, the team announced.

Mills had played just five minutes in four games since being called up by the Blazers on Jan. 3.

The 6-foot, 185-pound guard out of St. Mary’s was added to Portland’s roster to fill in for guard Steve Blake, who missed four games due to pneumonia. But Blake returned to action last Sunday, and his minutes are expected to increase in future games.

Update 1:  Team makes it official for Patty Mills...

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Trail Blazers reassigned guard Patty Mills to the NBA Development League’s Idaho Stampede, it was announced today by General Manager Kevin Pritchard.

Mills appeared in one game for the Trail Blazers, recording two assists in five minutes Jan. 4 at the L.A. Clippers.

In two games during his first stint with the Stampede from Jan. 1-3, Mills posted averages of 30.0 points (21-37 FG, 11-15 3-PT) and 7.5 assists in 34.0 minutes off the bench.

Mills, selected by the Trail Blazers with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft, will join the Stampede for Friday’s game vs. Reno.

And we'll sit back waiting impatiently for the real savior, Nicolas Batum.  :)