Surrounding the nine healthy Portland Trail Blazers in uniform on the bench against the Sacramento Kings were nearly as many donning suits. Forwards Nicolas Batum and Travis Outlaw sat courtside, as did guard Rudy Fernandez, and rookies Patrick Mills and Jeff Pendergraph, cheering on their depleted team. The only injured Blazer who wasn’t in attendance was Greg Oden, but he made his presence felt in a different way.

By missing their previous contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers, his third consecutive game in street-clothes, the team was awarded the ‘hardship exception’ by the NBA. Because Portland now has four players that have missed three games and are expected to miss at least two additional weeks, the conditions for the hardship exception, they are given the opportunity to pick up a sixteenth player.

Without Oden, Portland has struggled. Now, when Joel Przybilla, their only true center left, is out of the game, the team is lost defensively, and, though he isn’t a scorer, their offense suffers as well with him on the bench. They don’t have a low-post threat, someone they can go to to score around the rim. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has been more aggressive in Oden’s absence, but the Blazers can’t keep using him and undersized Juwan Howard as their alternatives to Tha Thrilla.

His presence and lack thereof in their win over the Sacramento Kings exemplified how important Przybilla is to their success. When he was on the court, the Blazers held a staggering 27-point advantage over the Kings; plus-27 is almost unheard of. When he was on the bench, the Blazers were outscored by twelve, including a stretch that spanned the final seven minutes of the second quarter during which the team tallied eight points on 3-11 shooting from the field and 2-5 from the free-throw line. Safe to say, he was valuable in every sense of the word.

He shouldn’t have to be that valuable, and the Blazers shouldn’t be so disheveled without him. This is why Portland has to use this hardship exception to their advantage and sign a big man to take the load off The Vanilla Gorilla.

But who? It would have to be a free-agent, unless they decided to just make a multi-player trade for a center, thereby making the NBA’s gift moot. Marcus Camby of the Los Angeles Clippers would be an extraordinary addition; he’s in the final year of his contract, and tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves, had 10 points, 18 rebounds (7 offensive), 6 assists, and 5 blocks. But he’s not a free-agent, and though he would be a perfect fit, Portland presumably doesn’t want to trade some of their players because that decision would deplete an already depressed rotation.

A trade could be made, but why not get a free player? Lorenzen Wright, formerly of the Atlanta Hawks, is waiting by the phone. So are other capable centers, such as Chris Mihm, Jake Voskuhl, and Earl Barron. All they need is someone to fill the paint, block shots, grab rebounds, and make the occasional layup. Each of these five players could be up to the challenge. It doesn’t really matter who the Blazers choose, but just that they have the wherewithal to pick a center.

There is one wrinkle to this hardship exception. When Fernandez, who is the likeliest candidate to return first from injury, rejoins the team, the free player has to be dropped. So this is strictly short-term. But the Blazers, even for just a few weeks, just need a tenth player so they can play five-on-five in practice, to give Przybilla someone to body. Someone who can clog the paint for a few minutes at a time on a gamely basis. That’s all.

The Blazers have no choice but to use this timely gift from he considerate NBA Gods, just as long as they don’t pick Raef Lafrentz’s name out of the hat, the same Raef Lafrentz that sits on my bedside in the form of a bobble-head (a gag gift, of course), and the same three-pointer happy Raef LaFrentz that failed to log a minute last season with Portland and was infamously known solely as a $12.7 million expiring contract (RLEC, in many circles). Anyone else would suffice, and give the Blazers an added boost and Przybilla some much-needed help.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 12:23 am and is filed under Most Recommended, NBA, News Headlines, Portland Trail Blazers, Right Column, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.