The Trail Blazers have already had more starting lineups after 13 games of the 2014-15 season than they did in all of 2013-14.
After a year of nearly impeccable health, their depth has been tested much earlier than it was last season.
They have also had to rely more heavily on their two free agent acquisitions that mostly drew yawns, if any reaction at all, during the NBA’s July sweepstakes: Steve Blake and Chris Kaman.
On Sunday, the two combined to score 27 points to help the Blazers overcome a slow start to give Portland their seventh consecutive win.
During the Blazers’ first 13 games, Blake and Kaman are the only two bench players that have played in every game. But they’ve also helped the Blazers in ways that are harder to see.
In particular, Chris Kaman’s mentorship of Meyers Leonard has been an unintended consequence.
“Words can’t describe it really,” Leonard said after he started in a Nov. 15 win against the Brooklyn Nets in which he collected a career-high 12 rebounds. “He’s been a mentor, a big brother to me really. It’s been so awesome to have him around.”
Leonard has credited Kaman with helping him learn more, particularly with rebounding and defense. They are very different players on the court, but Kaman sees a little of himself in Leonard.
“I mean, the anxiety and all that, that was me,” Kaman said. “I couldn’t slow myself down. I took a long time to figure that out. Getting a level head, learning what to do and not to do comes with experience. I was on some bad teams and they let me play through some bad times to get experience.”
They worked together over the summer at Kaman’s Michigan home, and it seems like Kaman has helped Leonard understand his role in a better way.
“Hanging out off the court, me just kind of picking his brain, asking him things about life, things about basketball,” Leonard said. “He’s extremely knowledgeable about both, and it’s a comfortable and good feeling having him around.”
On the court, Blazers coach Terry Stotts has plugged in different combinations of young reserves and starters around the two veterans who have been the pillars of the second unit. Blake is dishing four assists a game off the bench while his three-point stroke has been a decent 36 percent. He is a pass-first point guard, something the Blazers do not otherwise have and a complete change of pace from Damian Lillard.
Kaman has been guaranteed scoring off the bench, averaging 10.7 points with 6.6 rebounds on 56-percent shooting while also playing some good defense around the rim.
While Kaman’s points and production have been necessary for the Blazers, he boasts the second-highest usage rate (the percentage of times a player ends a possession with a shot, turnover or foul shots) on the team, trailing only LaMarcus Aldridge.
Stotts thinks that the duo is an easier one for the Blazers’ young players to blend in with.
“I think Steve and Chris are easy to play with,” Stotts said. “You got a guy who is a primary ball handler who gets the ball where it needs to be. You got a low-post threat. You got a guy who can pick and pop and a make jump shots. It’s easy for guys come off and play with them, because they’re so solid.”
Nicolas Batum came up as a young player alongside Blake and sees that for younger players, it is easier to blend in with steady veterans.
“You got a guy like Chris and Steve around you help them a lot,” Batum said earlier this season. “They are like teachers for them. I said to Will (Barton) during training camp, ‘You’re going to love playing with Steve Blake. When I was young when I got there, playing with Steve was big for me. You’ll see.’ “
The combination of young players may change, but that Portland has a base that it can trust every night off the bench. It is a luxury the Blazers have not had in quite some time.
