The rookies of the Trailblazers are stepping up when called upon. Power forward Dante Cunningham has played in 45 games (1 starts) for the Blazers this season and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game on 50.6% shooting from the floor. Fellow power forward Jeff Pendergraph has also been effective when he has gotten the chance to play. Pendergraph has played in 29 games (4 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game on 64.4% shooting from the floor. Point guard Patrick Mills was recently called up from the D-League. He has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 2.3 minutes, 1.2 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

The Portland Trailblazers need more out of Marcus Camby. He has played in 2 games (both starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 32.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.5 blocked shots per game. The defense and rebounding have been there for Camby with the Blazers. But, they need a little more out of him offensively as he is only shooting 16.7% from the floor so far this season for the Trailblazers.

The Trailblazers have acquired 35-year old PF/C Marcus Camby from the Clippers for 29-year old point guard Steve Blake, 25-year old small forward Travis Outlaw and $3 million dollars cash. Camby will immediately bump Juwan Howard back to the bench and he will help out the defense and rebounding of the Blazers. Camby played in 51 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 31.3 minutes, 7.7 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Camby has now played in 808 games (655 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 30.7 minutes, 10.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.6 blocked shots per game.

Steve Blake played in 51 games (28 starts) for the Blazers this season and he was averaging 27.4 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless will likely see bumps in their playing time to make up for Blake moving on to L.A. Travis Outlaw played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Blazers this season and he was averaging 21.0 minutes, 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Outlaw has been a decent backup player in his career for the Blazers but Nicolas Batum and Martell Webster will likely pick up the slack with him gone.

This was a great move for the Trailblazers who are 31-24 on the season which has them in the 8th spot in the Western Conference, 3 games ahead of the Hornets and Rockets. The Blazers are probably more worried about the Grizzlies though who are 4 games behind them right now. This is not to say that Juwan Howard didn’t do a good job for the Blazers because he did, but Camby is a game changer both on the boards and defensively.

The Trailblazers have suffered a lot of injuries this season but somehow they are hanging in there right in the playoff hunt. A huge reason for that has been the play of point guard Andre Miller. Miller has played in 55 games (39 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 30.3 minutes, 13.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Miller is a pure point guard as he would rather pass than score but with Brandon Roy out the Blazers have asked him to be more selfish with the ball and he has responded well to it.

With their star player Brandon Roy out since January 22nd, the Portland Trail Blazers have needed a few players to step up their play.  One in particular is point guard Steve Blake, who has not really been playing as well as the Blazers have needed him to.  Last night in their 108-101 win against the red hot Phoenix Suns, Blake got the start and showed that he can be an impact player for the Blazers.  Blake finished with 20 points, 12 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.  He played 38 minutes and went 7-12 from the field.  The Blazers need some more efforts like this out of Blake, as he has been playing nowhere near this level leading up to this game.  In his previous 5 games, Blake scored a combined 16 points and had two scoreless outings.  Granted he wasn’t getting 38 minutes a night in those games, but he had not been shooting the ball well and his effort on defense looked nothing like it did in the Suns game where he tormented Steve Nash into 6-16 shooting and 5 turnovers.  Now I don’t expect Blake to drop 20 every night, but if the Blazers can get him to play with that effort and efficiency on more of a consistent basis, it could really make a difference for them.