Nathan Scandella (personal)

Blazers Get Camby

The Portland Trail Blazers today got Marcus Camby in a trade with the LA Clippers for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. This was a great trade for Portland. The Blazers were down two centers, and even at this point in his career, Camby is a decent NBA center. Travis Outlaw is also a decent backup, but the Blazers are loaded at the 2/3 position, so he won't even be missed, unless there are more injuries.

This trade also does a nice job of making up for one of coach Nate McMillan's many shortcomings. He doesn't have a good eye for talent, so any trade that takes the decision(s) out of his hands is a good one. Camby, we know, will play. He's the only true center the Blazers have left. There's no more "difficult" decision for McMillan to get his pee-brain twisted up about, with respect to Oden vs. Pryzbilla. It also clarifies the position at point guard, taking Steve Blake out of the mix.

Steve Blake is a serviceable backup NBA point guard, but that's it. Anyone with a brain should have seen right away that after acquiring Andre Miller, Blake should have been relegated to limited minutes. Since the Blazers are stocked at the 2/3, that also should have meant that Blake basically should only have gotten minutes when Miller went to the bench (no two PG lineups!). Of course, McMillan is dumb as a post, and he actually started Steve Blake for the first 28 (ish) games of the season.

All year long, pundits have given Nate McMillan credit for keeping the Blazers in contention despite injuries. I would argue that the injuries actually helped make his job easier, and the true reason behind the Blazers' success has been:

• Their depth (not a result of Nate's decisions)


• Andre Miller (who Nate apparently wasn't even sure was his best PG)

The same thing happened during Nate's last season with the Sonics. He was playing too many guys in his rotation, and couldn't commit to his best players. A couple injuries to bench players shortened the rotation, and clarified the roles for the remaining players. With the Sonics, Nate also had a scrawny white point guard that he liked way too much. Luke Ridnour got minutes in the playoffs that year which were completely undeserved. This year, the Blazers will be forced to start a solid NBA point guard, with playoff experience.

Despite losing Oden and Pryzbilla (neither of whom were even close to All-Stars) and having spot injuries to their perimeter players, the Blazers should make the playoffs with ease. If they don't, it's likely the coach's fault. Nate McMillan has coached good talent in the NBA for 10 years now. If he finishes this year with still only one career playoff series win, against a Kings team that was being dismantled, Blazers fans need to wake up and demand leadership deserving of some of their young talent.

Posted at 06:31PM Feb 16, 2010 by Nathan in Sports  |  Comments[0]