The Portland Trail Blazers made the second “big deal” of the trade deadline season just minutes ago as they added Los Angeles Clippers forward/center Marcus Camby in exchange for back-up point guard Steve Blake and athletic forward Travis Outlaw, according to a source close to the Blazers.
Camby gives Portland another center that can start in place of Juwan Howard (Who, in all seriousness, was doing a great job filling the starting spot and producing at a good enough level to win ball games.) and bring an elite presence on the glass. Camby, who is just one year younger than Howard at 35, is still one of the best rebounders in the game, ranking second in the league with 12.1 rebounds per game, which is 1.2 boards per contest behind Dwight Howard.
This move should really make Portland one of the top four teams in the West, in my opinion. When Brandon Roy recovers fully from his hamstring injury, you are looking at a starting line-up of Andre Miller, Roy, Martell Webster, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Camby. That’s two scorers, one of which is a superstar, a defender/three-point specialist, a big man that has range, can hit the outside shot and get 20 and eight a night, and a center that can add the rebounding they lost when Greg Oden went down.
I absolutely love this group. Throw in their excellent home-court advantage, especially over the Lakers, and this team’s heart and you have a contender.
Sure, they had to give up some of their depth to make this deal, but it was certainly necessary and is actually kind of a steal when you look at it closely. How you can get a top-two rebounder in the league for a point guard that played more as a spot-up shooter and a forward that has been hurt the majority of this season? I guess it’s Kevin Pritchard’s genius. On second thought, it might be Mike Dunleavy’s ignorance.
While I like Blake and Outlaw, they were both in big logjams and Portland and served as much better assets to the team as trade pieces. Now the Blazers have turned a third string point guard (behind Miller and Jerryd Bayless) and a third string small forward who has been hurt this year (behind Webster and Nicolas Batum) into a starting center that they have been aching for since Oden got hurt.
Outlaw should showcase his talents in LA when he gets healthy. He can score the ball, defend with his length and rebound. Blake will play a role for the Clips, though it will be a smaller one. If he is hitting those corner three’s like he did in Portland, he can find some minutes for a team that isn’t going anywhere this season.
Now that two Western Conference contenders have made a move (Dallas getting Caron Butler being the other), I expect the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs to make a deal to improve their odds of winning a championship.
The Lakers were rumored to be in talks with Portland on a three-team deal also involving Chicago. That fell apart and the Blazers looked towards the other LA team to make a deal. Now, a source close to the Lakers tells me that they are looking into a three-team deal with the Bulls and Timberwolves. In this supposed deal, the Lakers would rid themselves of two bad contracts (Sasha Vujacic would go to Minnesota and Adam Morrison would go to Chicago) and receive Kirk Hinrich, who many believe is perfect for the Triangle offense (can hit three’s, pass, and defends well), from the Bulls. Chicago would also receive Brian Cardinal from the Wolves (Expiring contract) and possibly a draft pick. Minnesota would also receive Tyrus Thomas from the Bulls.
San Antonio has long been rumored to be shopping shooting guard Roger Mason Jr., so a deal involving the Spurs would likely involve him. A deal that many have floated out would have the Spurs getting Tyrus Thomas for the Bulls for Mason, though those talks have died down as the Lakers rumor has gained steam.
