Top > Sport > 2005 > September > 2005-09-29

Blake Officially Joins Portland

The Washington Wizards opted not to match the offer that Steve Blake received from the Portland Trail Blazers paving the way for him to join the Blazers. The addition of Chucky Atkins and Antonio Daniels has made Blake expendable in DC. The 6-3 point guard from Maryland missed most of last season due to injury.

Blake signing is puzzling considering the fact that Portland already has Sebastian Telfair and first round draft pick Jarrett Jack to man the point. If that?s not enough, the Blazers also added Juan Dixon, an undersized guard combo-guard, to their roster. New coach Nate McMillan has his work cut out for him, trying to divide minutes between these four guards.

The more intriguing question is why Blake agreed to sign with the Blazers in the first place. I guess playing time wasn?t a consideration, since he could have gotten a lot more playing time had he gone to a team like Miami or Cleveland.

A lot of teams were in the market for a quality point guard, and some how you always head Blake?s name mentioned in discussions. Could it be that the Blazers offer was the only one he got, or was it just the highest?