Alex Harkaway – For the Review. It has been 1,332 days since Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard became a genius. No, this has nothing to do with any IQ test.
I am referring to the day he nabbed franchise cornerstones Brandon Roy and Lamarcus Aldridge with savvy draft-day trades.
Pritchard used the 2006 NBA draft to set the stage for Portland’s comeback. In doing so, he solidified his place as one of the best general managers in the game. Since then, however, Pritchard has not landed another impact player, either through free agency or the draft.
In the 2007 draft, he passed on a player who could lead the league in scoring for one who leads the league in nude pictures. However, this week Pritchard struck gold when he traded for Clippers center Marcus Camby.
Camby gives Portland the rebounder and shot-blocker the team has needed since the unfortunate injuries to Greg Oden and Joel Pryzbilla. Gone are the days of Juwan Howard playing his age in minutes. Now the Blazers will have a defensive force in the middle of the floor, not to mention an underrated offensive player. And all it cost was Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw.
It’s true that some Blazers fans may have grown attached to Outlaw during his Blazer tenure because of his crunch-time shooting, or attached to Blake for, well, for some reason. However, this was a remarkably low price to pay for such an exceptional center. Remember that only days ago, rumors linking the Blazers to Washington’s Brendan Haywood were swirling around the league. In return, the Wizards were apparently asking for either Rudy Fernandez or Nicolas Batum, if not both of them. Fernandez and Batum are necessities for Portland in order to move forward, and hanging on to them was crucial.
The deal came about at the time when Brandon Roy was returning from his hamstring injury. While missing Roy and lacking a true center, the team fought hard to stay afloat in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Now they are getting reinforcements.
With Roy leading the offense once again and Camby protecting the rim, Portland has a chance to make some legitimate noise in the playoffs this year.
Camby helping spark a lengthy playoff run would be a dream come true for Portland. After all, while it may have been some time since Pritchard felt like a genius, it has been even longer since the Blazers won a championship.