Chris Kaman, Portland Trail Blazers – Last season, one of the biggest issues with the Blazers was their bench. The team had one of the best starting lineups in the league, but there was a significant drop off when their starters exited the game. Portland’s general manager Neil Olshey realized this and focused on improving their depth over the offseason, signing veteran contributors Chris Kaman and Steve Blake. Both players have performed well this season, but Kaman has really stood out. The 12-year veteran signed a two-year, $9.8 million contract with only $1 million guaranteed in the second year and he has been worth every penny thus far. Kaman has been excellent for the Blazers, averaging 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and a block in 19 minutes per game. He has even gotten some Sixth Man of the Year consideration early in the season due to his strong play. With Robin Lopez out several weeks with a broken hand, Kaman has become even more important for Portland and has seen his minutes increase on some nights. With an improved second unit, the Blazers have emerged as one of the best teams in the NBA. They currently have the second-best record in the league, behind only the Golden State Warriors. http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-pm-10-underrated-moves-that-are-paying-off/
Hate to quibble because overall he is correct, but I would argue that Blake has been even more important. Basically I think the writer is looking at the boxscore and not the game and he is not the only one saying it on a national level. Kaman has been huge, but so has Blake. His numbers just don't show it.
Gosh I so want to find the summer article that ranks us with the worst NBA offseason below the Heat. I think it was on ESPN somewhere.
Bill Simons said something like "we had the worst summer and might miss the playoffs. Don't give him this Kaman crap"
Got to agree with Pinwheel. The addition is the combination of both Kaman and Blake for essentially Mo. The difference has been huge.
After playing very well when the season started, Kaman has been pretty underwhelming lately. He's been better than I expected, but only because I thought he'd be awful. Frankly, Freeland has been better. Kaman's definitely a fun character though. Blake has been, as other people have pointed out, much more important. And his handle seems to be much improved since he was last a Blazer, even if his shooting has left a lot to be desired.
Giving Freeland playing time is paying off. He's as good of a team defender as I've seen in Portland in a long time.
You can expect Kaman's production to fall a bit around the birth of a first-born. I suspect that we will see him get better in a month or two.
Freeland was an important player for us last year before he sprained his mcl. He never looked 100% when he returned, but this year looks fully healed.
Yeah I agree...Freeland made the jump last season. He played solid defense before he got hurt, and as you said never seemed fully healed before the playoffs. It seems like some people (Simmons) forgot about his early contribution, or never noticed it, and just assumed that his playoff performance was the norm. This guy is a solid role player who can fill in at two positions. Kaman, Joel, and Blake are dependable vets. The rest...CJ, Crabbe, TRob, etc will be inconsistent as long as they get inconsistent minutes. But their is talent there as well. No we do not have that "guy" who comes in and gives us a scoring lift off the bench, but do we really need it? Are not 4 of our starters as good as a good as any 6th man? Since they can't all score when in together, giving them a bigger role playing with bench players may work better as they are not coming in cold off the bench. I would rather have a deep bench with multiple players then trading a bunch of them for 1 guy who could get hurt or not fit in. Hate to always use SA as an example, but since the decline of Ginobili the last few years, that seems to be what they have gone to.
JV had 14pts and 8 reb in 30 minutes... Not exactly taking someone's lunch. Kaman only played 17 minutes and had 10 and 8, way more effective.
I guess Ben Golliver was more important to that site than we thought. He must have run their Twitter account too because it sucks now. By Ben Golliver.
He has a 17 PER and is a legit 7 footer who can create his own offense. Rebounds at a high rate and can play defense. What the fuck else do you want from a MLE guy?
