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Portland Trailblazers
Portland Trail Blazers rookie guard Patrick Mills broke his foot prior to the season. Then, Nicolas Batum injured his shoulder and underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum. Rookie Jeff Pendergraph followed by injuring his hip, which required surgery as well. In mid-November, Travis Outlaw fractured his foot stepping awkwardly on his way up for a shot against Charlotte. This past Friday, head coach Nate McMillan ruptured his achilles attempting to practice with his team. Rudy Fernandez’s back pain recurred; he is suffering from sciatic pain, and could possibly miss the upcoming four-game road trip. LaMarcus Aldridge hurt his knee against Oklahoma City late last month, and had played in pain before missing their contest against the Miami Heat. Dante Cunningham, who started in his place during that game, narrowly missed breaking his eye socket in a head-to-head collision with Martell Webster during last Friday’s practice. Now, a ninth injury can be added to the list: the season-ending knee injury Greg Oden suffered against the Houston Rockets last night.
Like Mills and Batum, Oden underwent successful surgery, which came a day after breaking his kneecap attempting to block a shot by Rockets guard Aaron Brooks early in the first quarter. Like the eight other setbacks, especially the Cunningham-Webster near disaster, this was a freak accident; he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In undergoing surgery, according to the Columbian’s Brian T. Smith, “two screws were inserted in Oden’s left knee to re-attach the patella.” Smith went on to relay some very good news, saying “he received no ligament damage due to the injury.” But that doesn’t lighten Oden’s workload as far as rehab is concerned.
Smith has the details:
“Following today’s surgery, a two-month process will follow in which the bone attached to Oden’s patella will repair and bond, Pritchard said. During this time-frame, Oden’s movement will be limited. He will be re-evaluated following this stage.
Next, muscular atrophy will occur. Another two months should then pass, during which Oden is able to move more as his leg and hamstring strengthen.”
General Manager Kevin Pritchard, who had some wonderful things to say about his center, confirmed that there was no contact on the play during which Oden sustained the injury, and that the injury “likely occured because the quadriceps muscle in Oden’s leg is so strong that it put intense pressure on his patella.” The doctors do not believe that this injury is connected to a similar injury Oden suffered to the same leg last season.
As Oden begins his rehab, how does Portland cope with the loss? On their roster, they have eight players that can be considered guards–Brandon Roy, Andre Miller, Steve Blake, Jerryd Bayless, Fernandez, Webster, and Mills. On their roster, they now have one center, Joel Przybilla. There is something wrong with this picture. The Blazers, though every guard is talented and brings something different to the table, can’t keep all of them in light of Oden’s injury. There is no injury reserve in the NBA, nor a disabled list, so rehabbing Oden clogs up a roster spot, forcing the Blazers to either waive one of their rookies or trade a couple of their young talents in order to snag a center and stay competitive.
This puts Portland in a difficult predicament. They not only don’t want to trade any of their pieces, but there aren’t many viable options available on the free-agent or trade market. I’ve thought about this intently, and have cut the list from two to two:
1. Marcus Camby: If anyone can, the Cambyman can. The Los Angeles Clippers 35-year old center who has averaged 11 points and 16 rebounds over his past five games is in the final year of his contract. The Clippers are currently 11th in the Western Conference with a surprisingly good 9-11 record (9-11 is good when you are these Los Angeles Clippers). Their record and hopes for a playoff bid may give the team reason to keep Camby, but he is an expiring contract, and there are certainly organizations that would love a half-year rental of his caliber.
The Clippers have their center of the future, DeAndre Jordan, and they are set at power forward and shooting guard for the next fifteen years as well, with Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon. Though point guard Baron Davis is only 30, Los Angeles would probably like a young, satisfactory backup to eventually succeed him. Portland could trade Bayless, but I don’t believe they would trade him, a player the organization thinks very highly of, for half a season of Camby. If for some reason the Clippers would be willing to take cents on the dollar for Camby, possibly the Blazers could tempt them with Steve Blake, who has struggled this season.
Blake, cash, and a couple of draft picks for Marcus Camby? Pritchard couldn’t pass that up.
2. Jeff Foster: Foster is a tremendous rebounder, especially on the offensive end, and an excellent Plan B. He is very popular in Indiana, and the Pacers have no reason to trade him given his impact, but it probably wouldn’t take much to send him packing to Portland. The Blazers could tempt Indiana with a Bayless/cash/and-a-second-round-pick package, and Indiana would presumably bite, considering they originally drafted Bayless and are in dire need of point guard depth.
Here is the Bayless conundrum again. The Blazers signed Mills, who was a late second-round pick, despite the fact that his foot was broken and that they hadn’t yet seen him play even an exhibition game. At the time of that signing, the question “What does this mean for Bayless?” was posed by many. He is an attractive trading chip and financially cheap with incredible talent, but would the Blazers be willing to trade such a talent for a temporary replacement for Oden?
That’s the question they’ll have to answer. Bayless doesn’t have to necessarily be the player going elsewhere, as every potentially available guard is relatively young, gifted, and intriguing, but the Blazers have no choice but to do something to shore up the center position. If Portland doesn’t, they will have a tough time competing the rest of the way.
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Nick,
I think right now, the Blazers’ most economic option is to waive one of their players, and go after C Jake Voskhul. He is currently unemployed. Here is what Chris Sheridan of ESPN has to say about him:
“The epitome of the so-called “serviceable big man,” he, too, is getting caught in the economic squeeze. As a player with eight years of experience, his minimum salary would be $1.18 million ($355,000 of which — or, actually, a pro-rated portion thereof — would be paid from a special league fund, rather than by the team).
By comparison, the minimum salary for a player with no NBA experience is $457,588. At a time when teams are watching every dollar they spend, his price tag — about twice in actual dollars what it would cost to sign a youngster — makes him the equivalent of a Cadillac in a Prius market.”
Right now, the Blazers cannot afford to trade key, healthy reserves for a backup center. The only player who I see as being expendable via a trade is Travis Outlaw, due to his expiring contract. Even though he is injured, the Blazers will get more for his expiring contract than they will get from him.
Here is the most likely scenario I see happening: Portland released PG Patty Mills, and signs C Jake Voskhul to a 1 year contract. With Pendergraph returning sometime within the next few months, that will provide enough depth to get through the season.
Voskuhl’s an interesting target, Cameron. I agree. Camby would be great, but they don’t really need a star, considering they have plenty of talent at every other position. They just need someone to clog the lane, make a few dunks and layups, grab rebounds, and block shots.
The sad thing is that Portland is forced to drop someone of importance. Mills could be great, even though we’ve never seen him play professionally before, but in order to stay in contention, they do need a replacement for Oden. Therefore, the Blazers have little choice. But I’d rather see them drop or trade someone than watch them get crushed down low by every big opposition.
Another possibility is playing Pryzbilla 35-40 minutes per game, and moving Aldridge to center in spurts. Here is the problem with this, though: Aldridge is soft. Still, they will probably go with that until they sign someone.
Outlaw could go, but he’s a very valuable player. Like Oden, I see them retaining him after the season despite the injury.
Thanks for the comment, Cam.
Bayless is reportedly available, according to Dwight Jaynes. I don’t know how much I’d read into this, though. But if he is available, Pritchard’s probably looking for Camby or some other star.
http://www.dwightjaynes.com/does-jerryd-bayless-want-out-of-here
I’d rather see the Blazers move Blake or Mills before Bayless. He would be far too much to give up for a rental.