The Trail Blazers finished the Las Vegas Summer League with a respectable 3-2 record, but the successes and failures of Portland’s performance are gauged in more than just wins and losses. In fact, wins and losses don’t factor much, if at all, into the equation. Summer league is about scouting. It’s about putting players in pressure situations. It’s about seeing players old and new. And maybe most of all, summer league is about answering questions. With that in mind, here are some of the unknowns that may or may not have been answered in the desert.

Can Jerryd Bayless be Portland’s “point guard of the future?”

Bayless, who won the Las Vegas Summer League MVP after averaging upwards of 29 points a game, proved he’s a player (at least as much as one could prove that sort of thing in Las Vegas). But a point guard? That much is still up for debate.

Bayless started three of the four games he played at shooting guard, making any definitive statements about his ability to act as floor general premature at best. He did split time periodically with Petteri Koponen at the point, but by and large (and despite Bayless’ opinion to the contrary), he handled the two. And when he was at the one, he was still stuck in the mentality of a two. Whatever the reason, be it the lasting effects of playing two guard at Arizona or the lack of scoring options on the summer league roster, Bayless showed little of the prototypical skills common amongst starting point guards in the NBA. His assist totals were low (1.3 per game), while his turnovers (3.75 per game) and shot attempts (17 per game) were high. Those statistics do not a point guard make.

Bayless did show some flashes of point play. He has better than average handles, a part of his game that’s probably underrated, or at least it was. His defense, while not of the lockdown variety, was serviceable (and downright good against the Wizards and Timberwolves). His ability to get into the lane, something a good point guard is adept at doing, was unparalleled in Vegas. The down side, at least pertaining to point guard play, is that he chose to take his own shot rather than finding an open teammate almost every time he made his way into the paint. Then again, Bayless didn’t have Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw or Brandon Roy hanging out wide-open on the perimeter either.

So is Bayless the future starting point? Nothing gleaned from his performances in Las Vegas would seem to answer that question either way. It probably can be said that, barring any injuries, Steve Blake will be the starting point guard come the first day of the season. But further down the road? That’s to be determined.

Is Nicolas Batum ready for the NBA?

Ever since the Trail Blazers acquired Nicolas Batum in exchange for the draft rights to Darrell Arthur (who had a decent summer league) and Joey Dorsey (who, despite not being dressed, was kicked out of a summer league game), most pundits assumed Kevin Pritchard would leave the 19 year-old Frenchman to continue improving in his native land. That may not necessarily be the case, as most of the rumblings from folks in the front office would seem to indicate that, if nothing else, Batum’s performance in the summer league, along with other factors, would determine his basketball fate next season. The verdict? Well, if the decision was being made solely on his Las Vegas exploits, Batum would almost certainly spend another season in the Republique Francaise.

Batum, by his own admission, struggled to acclimate to the speed and, particularly, the physicality of the NBA game. Many players who cut their teeth oversees find that owning finesse and a thin body type make for a tough transition in the rough and tumble world of American-style basketball, and Batum has been no exception. He struggled to find his rhythm through the five-game stretch, with his only serviceable performance coming by way of a 12 point, 5 rebound game against the Timberwolves. Batum could often times be seen floating around the perimeter, probably due to a tentativeness to draw contact in the lane. He didn’t shoot well from the field (34%), from three (11%) or from the free-throw line (56%), making all of his performances, save the game against Minnesota, regrettable and forgettable.

Luckily for Batum, none of this would have shocked Kevin Pritchard or anyone on his staff. While they would have liked to have been pleasantly surprised by Batum’s performance, the front office knew (and continues to declare at every possible opportunity) that he would be a project in the mold of another athletic yet wiry small forward, Travis Outlaw.

Is Batum ready for the big time? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to get his shot this season. Despite assumptions to the contrary, Pritchard has always leaned toward bringing Batum over this season, allowing assistant coach and noted player developer Monty Williams to take the Frenchman under his wing, regardless of any developments in Las Vegas.

Can Petteri Koponen crack the regular season roster in ’08-’09?

Koponen was probably the player on the summer league roster with the most to gain or lose in Las Vegas. A great performance would have all but forced the Blazers’ hand, giving them little choice but to deliver him from his Helsinki-based basketball purgatory. A poor performance would have made a strong argument for more time in Europe, be it in Finland, Spain, Russia, Italy or Greece. Unfortunately for all those involved, Koponen’s average outing in Las Vegas cleared up next to nothing regarding where he’ll play next season, making everyone’s more difficult.

Koponen, despite some quality performances, seemed to fade as the summer league wore on. In the opener, the Finnish point guard finished with a solid 19 point, three assist, three rebound night, even leading a late-game rally with a barrage of three-point shots that resulted in a 78-73 Portland victory. He followed that performance with an 18 point, three assist game against the Timberwolves, but after that, Koponen struggled with shooting and turnovers in the last three games. Constant full-court pressure from opposing guards and the rigors of playing five games in seven days seemed to take their toll. If given the option, Koponen would have probably preferred to start slow and finish strong, rather than the other way around. Then again, he did leave Las Vegas having averaged 13.2 points, 3.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds and a steal per game. Those are respectable numbers (though the 3.2 turnovers per game remove some of the luster).

Ultimately, adding Koponen to the regular season roster becomes a question of numbers for the Trail Blazers. Bringing him over maxes-out the roster at 15 (assuming Batum is signed), which wouldn’t be much of an issue if Nate McMillan wasn’t dead-set on ending Portland’s playoff drought. But with the postseason being the expectation in 2010, can you really give your last roster spot to yet another point guard, one who almost certainly won’t be ready to contribute?

And if you’re Koponen, can you sign another one year contract in Finland, leaving hundreds of thousands of Euros on the table just to keep your dream of an NBA career alive? The answer to that question is almost an unqualified “no,” as Koponen has stated on numerous occasions that he’ll strongly consider signing a long-term contract with a top-flight European club team should the Blazers decide to again delay his stateside transition. Koponen could eventually play in Portland should he sign a contract in Europe this season, but it would postpone that possibility for as long as five years. Neither Koponen nor the Blazers care for that option.

We’ll know the answer to the Koponen question soon enough, as Pritchard is expected to make a decision sometime in the next few weeks.

Are there any players on the summer league roster outside of Bayless, Batum and Koponen that might make the team?

If the Blazers are having a hard time finding a spot for Koponen, by all accounts the second-best player on the squad, then there’s no way they could squeeze in someone else from the summer league roster. A player like Bernard Robinson, who already has NBA experience, might get a training camp invitation, but even he didn’t look all that impressive in Las Vegas. The same can be said for Josh Davis and J.R. Pinnock. Those guys could end up playing in the NBA this season, but it won’t be for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Other than that, it’s probably off to Europe or the D-League for the rest of the roster. Big bodies like Chris Ellis and Steven Hill always seem to catch on somewhere. Hill especially could be an interesting project for a team wanting a defensive-minded center that plays hard every night. Mo Finley just signed a new contract with Euroleague powerhouse Siena, so he’ll be making more money and playing more minutes overseas than he would in the states.

So in the end, the Blazers performance at summer league didn't resolve much of anything. And maybe that’s really what summer league is for: finding questions, not answers.

Review Portland's Las Vegas adventure over at Summer League Central.