NBA Free Agency 2014: Chris Kaman agrees to deal with Portland Trail Blazers

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, unrestricted free agent Chris Kaman has agreed to a two-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The addition of Kaman adds depth to the Blazers frontcourt, a unit that struggled outside of Lamarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez following a right knee injury that forced Joel Freeland into a minuscule role come playoff time.

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Based on skill set alone, Kaman doesn’t strengthen the Blazers’ weaknesses. Throughout his career, Kaman has been known as an offensive center. Last season as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, the big man averaged 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds on a usage percentage of 26.7%, the second highest of his career. Translating that into laments-terms, when Kaman touches the ball, there is a high chance he’s going to end the possession with a shot. In 2013-14, the Blazers finished with 5th best offensive rating in the NBA. Clearly offense wasn’t an issue for the team.

Where this franchise needs improvement is on the defensive end (16th in defensive rating) and the addition of Kaman helps that area very little, possibly making them worse on that end as he’s expected to soak up Joel Freeland’s minutes in the rotation.

In regards to the deal, the second year is non-guaranteed, giving the Blazers the opportunity to release Kaman if the franchise feels they can do better in year 2.

At $5 million per for a big man who only played 39 games last season, Kaman’s former teammate Kendall Marshall explained the deal perfectly.