The Trail Blazers’ win over the Sacramento Kings Tuesday night meant very little — after all, the Kings, not overly talented in the first place, were missing their two best players, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller. And come on, this was just an exhibition game, the first one, in fact.

But the significant things to take away from the game concerned a couple of Trail Blazer newcomers, Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez. Oden was much better than he was in a public scrimmage Friday night, moving with more confidence and assurance on the way to 13 points in fewer than 20 minutes. He’s still not 100 percent in his conditioning and his explosiveness hasn’t returned yet. “I just need to get my wind up,” he said afterward. “Get my conditioning better. But it was fun to be out there with my teammates.”

It’s obvious he’s going to be a load for the opposition to handle. When he gets low-post position, he’s going to demand double teams. If not, he’s just going to overpower people. And when he learns the ins and outs of what he can get away with on defense, gets the illegal defense rules down and gains more confidence, he’s going to be a wall on the inside.

“He’s very effective around the basket,” said former NBA center Wayne Cooper, the Kings’ VP of basketball operations. “You can tell he’s been out a year but he was still very effective.”

Indeed, Oden isn’t getting off the ground well with any consistency but was still a major force inside. When he gets his legs under him, he’s going to be a big factor at both ends of the court.

But Oden’s home debut wasn’t as impressive as Fernandez’s. The guy was originally billed as a big-time shooter and scorer, which he may well be at some point. But his real value in the NBA is going to be as a playmaker. He’s one of those rare players who seems to see things before anyone else does. He’s like a chess player who is one move ahead of the guy he’s playing. He sets up teammates with ease and moves well without the ball. His basketball IQ seems to be off the charts and playing with him is going to make other players smarter, too. And make no mistake, other people are going to want to play with him. He’s like Clyde Drexler in that regard — get open and he WILL get you the ball.

When Rudy was out there with his long-time Spanish teammate Sergio Rodriguez, there was a lot of magic — particularly on a couple of alley-oop passes that brought fans out of their seats. On the first, Rudy slammed the ball home and and on the second, he pulled off a pretty amazing reverse layup.

“He’s creative,” Cooper said. “Really creative. He really sees the floor and has a great feel for the game.”

Nate McMillan said the same thing. “His court vision is great,” said the Blazer coach. “He made basketball plays. He and Sergio broke the game open.”

I can envision Rudy being on the floor late in fourth quarters, with the game in the balance, playing off Brandon Roy. I can tell you, with those two out there creating plays, someone is going to get some real good shots.

All in all, it was quite a night for Blazer fans, who rocked the building with standing ovations frequently. I feel like I ought to say, “Calm down a little, fans. Pace yourselves. It’s a long season.”

But what the heck. Enjoy it, folks. It’s some pretty fun stuff.

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