By Wayne Thompson

It's hard to imagine a circumstance in which the Trail Blazers, the NBA's youngest team in the 2007-2008 season, could get even younger after last month's NBA player draft and trades.

Yet assuming that all the seismic moving and shaking activity ignited by the Blazers on draft night is over for awhile, that's exactly what happened. To sum up, the Blazers have added:

• Arizona freshman point guard Jerryd Bayless, 19, who averaged 19.7 points per game last season for the Wildcats and entered the draft ranked by most mock drafts as the fifth best player available;

• Forward/guard Nicolas Batum, 19 of France, a 6-8 athletic swing man who is considered one of the rising young stars of Le Mans Espoirs of the powerful Euroleague;

• Indiana Pacers three-year veteran forward Ike Diogu, 24, a 6-8 banger out of Arizona State who was the ninth pick of the first round in the 2005 NBA draft, taken just ahead of Channing Frye.

To make all of this happen, the Blazers gave up three-year veteran Jarrett Jack, 24, last year's little-used forward Josh McRoberts, 21, and this year's 13th pick -- Brandon Rush of Kansas. Subtract also from the Portland roster the July 9 decision by James Jones, 27, to opt out of his contract and sign with the Miami Heat, and, presto, the new Blazers are younger yet.

Putting a number on it, try this: Players who are currently under contract with Portland or whose rights are owned by the Trail Blazers and could be signed to contracts this summer, average 23.6 years of age.

Last year's Blazer roster, at this time, averaged 24.0 years of age.

This is not to say that the Trail Blazers are done dealing for the year or that general manager Kevin Pritchard may still want to tweak the roster to bring some age and veteran leadership into the mix.

But it is to say that Pritchard really likes what the team has done so far this summer. He believes he and his scouting team and advisors, with owner Paul Allen's help and support, have made the team better and far more balanced than last season's roster.

"As we look at our team, and who could potentially be backing them up . . . I like our top ten -- a lot," said Pritchard in a press conference following the draft. "I think we have a balanced roster. I think it's a good group to start the season with."

Later asked if he was done, Pritchard said, "I think there's some tinkering (to be done), but I like this team."

So what are the experts outside of Portland saying about the Trail Blazers' draft performance for 2008?

Writer Chad Ford of ESPN.Com gave the Blazers an A-minus, without even mentioning that the Blazers also are adding to their roster last year's No. 1 draft pick, Greg Oden, plus last year's 24th first round pick, Rudy Fernandez of Spain.

Ford wrote: " For the third straight year, the Blazers walk away with an A in the draft. Portland GM Kevin Pritchard continues to be the most daring, creative and active GM in the league. If I were to use a draft term to describe him, I'd say he's got an amazing motor.

"The Blazers," Ford wrote, " had a prearranged deal with the Pacers to move up to No. 11 if D.J. Augustin or Bayless were on the board. After the draft, Pritchard told me they had Bayless ranked fourth on their board -- so that's great value at No. 11. As part of the trade, they also picked up Ike Diogu, an undervalued big man who has been injured a lot.

"Portland also bought the No. 27 pick from the Hornets and traded up late in the first round to get another player it wanted, Nicolas Batum.

"Bayless is an upgrade over the guy the Blazers lost in the trade, Jarrett Jack," added Ford in his assessment of Portland's draft-day performance. "Bayless is a better athlete and a much better shooter. If he develops his point guard skills, he could be a Chauncey Billups-type of point guard."

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