The trade of Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw for Marcus Camby was, despite the Blazers not being in title contention, easily qualified as a win-now deal. The idea being that you extend the season into the playoffs, continue the good mojo from last season and keep getting the core group experience on the big stage. Nothing wrong with that. A first-round playoff exit is still much more valuable for a young team on the upswing than a lottery choice with poor odds of reaching the Top 3. And the Blazers needed a center, preferably for cheap, so boom, Camby. For two players who probably weren’t coming back to Portland — and also clearing a minutes logjam — nobody can argue it was a bad deal for Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers.

But was going with a veteran rental when you are not in the class of the top teams in the league the right deal? In six games, an obvious adjustment period when Camby has shown some rusty offense while also adding most of the things his history promised, here are his numbers:

PER 11.8, eFG% .323, Offensive Rebounding Percentage 15.6, Defensive Rebounding Percentage 20.1, Total Rebounding Percentage 17.9, Block Percentage 7.9, Offensive Rating 87, Defensive Rating 99

While his block percentage is slightly better, all those numbers are below his career averages. But, who cares? I have little doubt that Camby will become more consistent as the games go on — he’s been too good over his career and in this season to suffer a sudden dropoff in talent and ability. And if he doesn’t gradually improve, there’s no way anyone could have predicted that would happen, particularly when there was such a gaping hole at the center spot. Camby himself isn’t the problem, nor can he control the fact that he won’t be an important factor in future playoff runs. Let’s leave him alone.

Now let’s look at Tyrus Thomas, who we know was available at the deadline with the Chicago Bulls because he was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats for the expiring contracts of a point guard, Acie Law, a wing scorer, Flip Murray, and a very protected first-round draft pick. Sound a little like what Portland gave up? While we have no idea if the Blazers could have actually acquired Thomas, it’s not far fetched to think the Blazers could have offered the same package to Chicago that they gave the Clippers and actually given the Bulls more cap space this summer by taking back a little less salary (the Bulls had the smaller contracts to do this). Maybe they wouldn’t have had to give up a protected first-rounder, either.

Assuming the Blazers could have acquired Thomas, who is bound for restricted free agency, for a similar price, might he have been a better option? It didn’t take an oracle to predict that he would have benefited from a change in scenery with a chance to prove himself before going on the market. Still, he had his attitude problems in Chicago and doesn’t have a reputation as the most cerebral player. This is what he is doing in six games for Larry Brown (in very comparable minutes to Camby so we don’t have to use per-36 minute numbers):

PER 22.1, eFG% .542, Offensive Rebounding Percentage 7.5, Defensive Rebounding Percentage 27.2, Total Rebounding Percentage 17.4, Block Percentage 9.6, Offensive Rating 106, Defensive Rating 93

Again, tiny sample sizes, but Camby has been a better offensive rebounder — something the Blazers have always been strong, and need to be strong, at — but otherwise Thomas has the edge in the other categories. So far, the new environment has been a positive. And though Camby is the more traditional center and Thomas would force Aldridge to play the five — where he’s been more effective in fewer minutes — this season, Thomas offers many of the same on-court skills with more energy and explosiveness at the cost of experience and general hoops wherewithal.

Now, is it possible Camby ends up with equal number as a Blazers than Thomas as a Bobcat? Sure. Is it possible Camby ends up with better numbers? Absolutely. Camby also, despite not being the greatest one-on-one defender, is probably the better bet to take into the playoffs this year. But what are you left with in May?

With Camby, you have the rights to possibly re-sign or sign-and-trade a very good 35-year old center. He is not going to be a big part of the team’s future, even if he re-signed for a couple years. By the time the Blazers are ready to be contenders, he, like Andre Miller, will probably be on his way out, if not before then.

With Thomas, you have the rights to extend a one-year qualifying offer to, sign-and-trade or match any offer sheet given to a 23-year old power forward. He has a chance to be a part of the team’s future as a backup power forward, should that be a role Nate can mold him into, and be a contributor during playoff runs, hopefully maturing in a more structured system (hardly a guarantee). But if you keep him, what does that do to Dante Cunningham? Is it realistic for Thomas to excel in a backup role at this stage in his career? Maybe not. At the very least, with a couple months of good play and behavior from Thomas, you have a significant asset to play with. That way of thinking could be too 2007, but the Camby way of thinking could also be too 2012.

As much as I appreciate what Camby can and probably will add to the Blazers season — very possibly being the difference between the playoffs and the lottery — the second option sounds a little better. Of course, we can’t go back and change anything. The deal is done. That’s fine. But it’s worth taking account of individual moves as part of the grand plan and exploring other perspectives, even if we arrive at the same conclusions.

And remember, the Blazers will have the contracts of Miller and Joel Przybilla to play with next season, and they’ll be faced with many of the same choices that they were this February.

There is another side to the story. What about the players lost? What about the impact their departure has? With an acquisition comes a loss. And the Portland Trail Blazers lost Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and some of Paul Allen’s cold hard cash in this deal. I sit here, typing these words and I find it strange to say that Travis Outlaw is no longer a Portland Trail Blazer. I have always had a feeling this day would come — it’s been rumored for a couple of years now — and it’s finally here. Outlaw was the longest tenured Blazer on this team, dating all the way back to 2003-04. If you’re a Blazer fan you have to have a certain attachment with Travis Outlaw. For good or bad, you probably felt something toward him.

His rookie year coincided with the beginning of the end for the ‘Jail Blazer’ Era. Not quite in terms of being known for being troublemakers, but the successful, winning, being able to justify supporting a team full of knuckleheads part. It’s amazing to think Outlaw was a rookie the year Rasheed Wallace got traded. My mind spins when I think of the ups and downs I’ve gone through as a fan during those six years. . .and he’s been there during it all. It’s also amazing to think of the progress he has made. If anything, I hope Blazer fans remember his story. From Coup’s post on Outlaw written late last year.

So let’s appreciate what Travis Outlaw has done in six seasons. In 2003 he was drafted to a team that would begin a stretch of three losing seasons bookended by 41 win years and zero playoff appearances. Not to mention he was drafted by a franchise that, at the time, rivaled the Oakland Raiders in terms of dysfunction, discord and overall dismal-everything. They’re only All-Stars were only All-Stars on “All-Mugshot” fantasy basketball teams. We’ve even heard stories about local writers being warned about getting sucker punched in the locker room. So comes along an unheralded, unassuming 19-year old from Starkville, MS (of around 20,000 people) and…how the hell was he supposed to succeed in that environment?

Well, he did. He could have easily fallen in with the wrong players with the wrong habits, he could have easily fallen out of the league. But he found things he could work on and be good at, professional skills. More than anything, he simply survived the worst situation a player drafted out of high school could be in. That took someone with a good deal of integrity, and no matter how the questions around Travis Outlaw get answered, his journey is worth celebrating.

I choose to celebrate the story than debate his fadeaway jumpshots or defensive lapses. He could have been Qyntel Woods. He was a lost puppy surrounding by a terrible atmosphere and on a team that was not winning many games. And he survived that, not only remaining here as the Blazers rose again but becoming a major part of it. He went form a lanky, awkward, “slow”, teenager into one of the top Sixth Men in the league. A self-assured and self-confident player who boldly proclaimed that he wanted to be an All-Star. A player who made himself into something no one thought he could be. And that has to be appreciated.

I’d like to sit here and say it’s tough to see Outlaw go. It’s not. Trades happen. Once I saw Shaq and Allen Iverson get traded like they were a bum du jour, my whole thinking surrounding trades changed. With Outlaw, it’s been in the back of my head since Martell Webster got a long-term extension and Outlaw didn’t that the parting of ways would happen sooner than later. As Webster and Batum emerged, any Blazer fan should have known that all three could not stay. A move would have had to be made. With Webster locked up and Batum untouchable, the writing was splattered in red paint all over the wall.

While we miss Outlaw’s ability to create his own shot at times, it’s been apparent since his injury that the Blazer train can go on without him. And I’m happy to see Outlaw go and will want to see what he can make of himself outside of Portland. You have to wonder if he had hit his ceiling as a player in a Blazer uniform. He was never going to start, solely based on the fact that his skill-set did not match up with what the Blazers needed from a starting 3. Defense, shooting, etc. are not his forte. He had developed into a tremendous weapon off of the bench but there was nowhere else for him to go. His minutes were going to get cut thanks to the aforementioned swingmen and the emergence of solid play from Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph. Both who are actual 4-men. Outlaw’s big advantage was he could play the back-up 4 and get mismatches. However, the other team also had that same mismatch on the other end.

With Steve Blake, in Portland he had found the one thing that had eluded him his entire NBA career: security. It seemed as if he had finally found a home. Other than this year, Blazer fans saw him thrive in the system. He was definitely the rock compared to the silly putty we knew as Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriguez. A very nice compliment to Brandon Roy with his solid play, lack of turnovers and ability to spread the floor with his outside shot. He didn’t take anything off the table and just ran the show. It was refreshing. However, last year during the playoffs when it became apparent that Portland needed another playmaker to help Roy out, things changed. My mind wonders, how different would Blake’s life had been had Hedo Turkoglu not pulled out at the final hour? The arrival of Andre Miller brought along a ton of headaches and Blake turned into a sort of punching bag for Blazer fans. Nate stuck with his guns and his point guard, but eventually had to make room for Andre Miller. No one knows how much of an effect that Miller and Bayless’ play had on Blake, but it’s clear something was different between the new roster and perhaps some lingering injuries. There were games where I wondered if he was even out there.

We have known that these two and their expiring contracts were ripe for a deal and the deal has come and gone. But for all the complaints Blazer fans have had with Blake and Outlaw during their time here, in the big picture they gave us nor reason for a “good riddance” send off. Nobody can claim either player ever sandbagged it. Neither was a problem in the locker room. Both had more than a few brilliant moments in a Blazers uniform and, because of that, were huge parts in the turnaround of the last few years, as well as for the sustained success through some difficult times after that turnaround.

So whether or not Jerryd Bayless or the remaining small forwards thrive with their increased minutes and reduced mental and literal logjams, don’t say it’s because Blake and Outlaw held them back. By all accounts, both did what they could to perform the tasks asked of them and for that we should be proud to count them among former Blazers.

On the surface, there’s not much to analyze about the move. Both Blake and Outlaw had expiring contracts and had very little chance of re-signing in the offseason given the money they would want and the minutes the Blazers would offer. That left the Blazers with a single asset that was their combined contracts, the same sort of asset they had last February with Raef LaFrentz’ expiring deal. It was use them or lose them, and losing them would be a monumental waste in the current NBA landscape.

When the Blazers let LaFrentz’ deal run out, they knew they would have cap space coming to them in the summer, so you can say that asset turned into Andre Miller after the metamorphic stages of Hedo Turkoglu and Paul Millsap. The Blazers weren’t getting cap space this summer with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge’s extensions kicking into high gear, so neither Camby nor the two players sent south were going to count for much of anything come June and July.

So what did that leave the Blazers with? A summer girlfriend — the sort you hook up with as school is ending and begin dating with a set expiration date as you leave for college — and a very attractive one at that. Camby won the DPoY award after the 2006-07 season, and his advanced numbers are right in line with that and all his other years.

2009-10: PER 18.5, Effective FG% .469, ORB% 12.2, DRB% 33.1, TRB% 22.6, Assist % 4.7, Block % 4.7
Career Numbers: PER 18.2, eFG% .471, ORB% 10.1, DRB% 27.1, TRB% 18.6, Assist % 10.0, Block % 6.2

Basically Portland is getting a 35-year old center that hasn’t seen much decline at all in his game, in fact putting up a career-best in total rebounding percentage and leading the league in that category and offensive rebounding percentage. His shotblocking may have declined a little since his time in Denver, but he is still an exponential upgrade in that aspect over what Juwan Howard was offering.

Better yet, the transition and adjust phase should be short. Camby played three and a half seasons with current Portland starting point guard Andre Miller and was on the receiving end of many a Miller lob during those years. Camby has never been a high usage player but he can step out and hit a jumper — which he’ll have to take a number of — and was an underrated passer during his time in Denver. He’ll draw more attention away from Aldridge than Howard or the rookies did and there’s a possibility of some high-low or at least high-mid action between him and LaMarcus.

Defensively, the glove fits. The Blazers have allowed a huge number of points in the paint since Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden went down, effectively becoming an offensive team capable of building but not holding double-digit leads. Camby changes that. He is an excellent weak-side defender, something the Blazers have not always done well this year, and can defend the pick-and-roll very well when he wants to.

Again, none of it requires deep, philosophical thinking. When Miller came to town, everyone had their questions about fitting the talent and lack-of-shooting into a stylistically different backcourt. Unless attitude becomes an issue — and I’m guessing it will not — there are few if any of those questions.

Because of that, it’s very difficult to find anything wrong with this deal unless you had a strong connection with Blake considering Outlaw’s health status. Sure, there were other big men rumored to be available, all with their differences — Erick Dampier’s contract was a better asset, pre-trade Brendan Haywood was younger, Tyrus Thomas offered upside and potential for a long-term relationship — but in terms of the players Portland would be getting for the next 20-plus games, there was no better option.

The trade may or may not signal a smaller philosophical shift for Portland. In the past Kevin Pritchard may have been publicly content to “let the cake bake”, but that was with all the young players under contract. So, part of you wants to think that he is abandoning previous plans to enter the proverbial win-now phase, but, with what he had to give up — meaning none of the larger assets — in order to help ensure some added playoff experience for the unaltered core group, Pritchard just properly evaluated his assets and used his “Get a free center” card.

Any further analysis can essentially be reduced to short blurbs. Right move, right time. No risk offers medium reward. The Clippers are uber cheap. And so forth. But really all it was is the Blazers finding a taker for an offer I’m sure they discussed with many teams and somehow wound up with the best possible 2010 solution without giving much of anything or taking back bad contracts. As anyone who has ever been in a summer relationship knows, someone tends to get burned and Blazer fans might have a tough time letting Camby go in a couple months, but as long as you don’t half expect Camby to throw on a leather jacket at sing “Rama Lama Dinga Dong”, everyone should come out of this the better.