It has been a while been a little while since I last wrote. Mainly, I was taking a break and waiting for free agency to begin. Now that it is well underway, let’s talk about it.

The NBA offseason is in full swing. Free agency has been going strong for this past seven days for multiple teams. The main storylines have dominated the headlines. Analysts and fans around the NBA expect Carmelo Anthony’s decision to come sometime this week. Will he stay in New York, or move on to the Lakers or Chicago? Also dominating the headlines is the Miami Heat. Pat Riley is trying to work some magic in keeping his three stars in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, while also giving the team a more talented supporting cast. Anyone who watched the NBA Finals this year knows that the Heat need some other players around their big three.

While I could go on about my opinions on those topics (and I might eventually), I want to focus on what the Portland Trail Blazers might be and have been doing. At the time of this posting, the Blazers have already agreed to sign backup center Chris Kaman to a 2-year, $9.8 million deal. For people who may not know, the Blazers had two main weapons they could use this offseason, the MLE (mid-level exception) and BAE (bi-annual exception). The Blazers went straight for option No. 1, Spencer Hawes, when free agency opened up. Spencer Hawes is an effective player who would have worked well in Portland’s system. He is big, can shoot three pointers and is a good passer. Unfortunately, Hawes ultimately chose to go play for the LA Clippers for the same amount of money and contract. Neil Olshey must have seen this coming as he went straight for Chris Kaman before any announcement was made about Hawes going to the Clippers.

This shouldn’t come as a complete shock as Kaman was almost a Blazer last year, until he opted to go to LA.

Before all the fans get up in arms about how Chris Kaman is not good enough or that he couldn’t get playing time on the worst Laker team last year, let me remind you that this guy is one of the most underrated offensive players in the NBA. Was this the move that Portland fans wanted to see? No. But, I do not think they will be disappointed. Kaman did not get playing time on the Lakers last season because he was either injured or was just riding the bench as Laker head coach at the time, Mike D’Antoni, just didn’t play him (he played 39 games last season). This doesn’t automatically make him a bad player. In fact in his last two seasons, he has averaged similar numbers. In Dallas, he averaged 10.5 points and 5.6 rebounds a game (he played 66 games on an injury-ridden Mavericks team), while in LA, he averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Keep in mind that the Blazers will be using him to back up Robin Lopez. With those stats, I think this is a great move. It gives the bench some muscle in the middle and gives the bench a more dependable scoring pulse.

A lot of people are complaining about the money we had to pay him. I get it. However, to get a big man in this league and to woo a player to come to Portland, the Blazers might have to pay slightly extra to get somebody. There is still a lot of flexibility and only $1 million is guaranteed in his second year of the contract. This is a Meyers Leonard pickup really. This gives Leonard an extra year to develop and right about now is when big men start to blossom if they are going to. If Leonard does not pan out, however, then Portland can bring Kaman back to play backup.

Also, do we all remember how we felt when we traded for Robin Lopez? Kaman might surprise you. Give him a chance.

Now, defensively, Kaman isn’t Roy Hibbert, but he isn’t bad either. All this to say, this might not have been the splashiest move that fans wanted, but quite honestly, Portland can only do so much. Like I said, they were only armed with a MLE and BAE. Any other move that could make would have to come from trades. The flexibility Portland has this offseason is nowhere near what they will have next offseason. A bunch of contracts will be coming off the books and the 2015 offseason for Portland will see the most roster shake up, I think.

Do I think Neil Olshey is done? No. Obviously, there is still a roster spot to be filled at the backup point guard position. Whether that will be Mo Williams or a guy like Steve Blake is still being decided, but I honestly think there is one, maybe two more moves to be made. There are all kinds of rumors floating around about Indiana Pacer big man Roy Hibbert being traded to the Blazers, but as much as the fan in me wants to possibly see that happen, I think a trade of that caliber is highly unlikely. Indiana wants to quietly get rid of Hibbert after his no-show second half and abysmal postseason, but I think the Hibbert ship has sailed in Portland, especially considering that Robin Lopez has turned out so well.

Who knows ultimately? Right now, at the time of this blog post, the free agent markey is basically stuck until the big players move and shift the landscape. Olshey could pull off some surprise move like he did with Mo last offseason, but we can only predict so much. The Kaman move is a good start and is something Portland did need badly on the bench. We shall see what happens next. Stay tuned!