Called On Early

Only 16 games into this 2009-10 season, Dante Cunningham is hearing his named called by Nate McMillan in key stretches of NBA games.  You could not have predicted it in June.  Cunningham was Portland’s last draft pick, a project that was most notable for his resemblance (both in terms of his game and appearance) to one of Portland’s established role players, Travis Outlaw.  He was a “Pritchard guy”, someone who had impressed Portland in workouts.  And most of all, he was to many of us “just another guy that they took instead of DeJuan Blair”…  Now, Cunningham is shaping up to be Portland’s backup PF behind LaMarcus Aldridge.

It’s an odd set of events that have led us to this state.  First, Portland passed on more proven commodities in the draft (see above comment on Blair), instead opting for workout-wonders like Jeff Pendergraph and Dante Cunningham.  Second, Portland failed to address their need for a backup PF in free agency after letting Channing Frye leave for Phoenix.  They made one attempt, the highly publicized “toxic offer” for Paul Millsap, but that was as much a strategic move to tax a rival’s budget as it was an attempt to address a need.  Coming as no surprise to anyone, Utah matched that offer, and Portland was left to forage the ancient and forgotten (Juwan Howard).  As I mentioned in a September column on this “backup power forward quandary,” Howard is still a nice add even if he’s not logging heavy court time.  His calm, cerebral influence in the locker room has always been his best value-add.  However, after Portland lost two forwards to long term injuries (Batum: shoulder, Outlaw: broken foot), their lack of depth and quality at the power forward position has become even more pronounced and urgent.

Let’s look again at the forwards that Portland drafted – Pendergraph and Cunningham.  Of the two, Pendergraph was obviously the one geared towards Portland’s need for a “banger,” and someone who will outwork opposing forwards on the glass.  To many fans, Cunningham seemed almost like a forward-thinking pick for future days where Travis Outlaw might be playing in a different uniform, having been traded in order to fill a team need or upgrade a starting player.  Pendergraph is the bigger, more rugged player.  Cunningham, while not as lanky as Travis Outlaw, still has the build of an NBA small forward.  Either player is undersized for the “4″ of today’s NBA contest, to be honest, but the fit is much better for Pendergraph.  So, the Blazers were quite unfortunate when his season ended before it even began, with hip surgery.

So, here we are in November and Portland is already falling back to Howard and “Plan C”, the youngster Cunningham.  It may seem that I’m making a lot out of a tertiary issue here, but Cunningham’s ability to respond is actually quite crucial for Portland, particularly against teams with a strong frontcourt that is liable to put the starting Portland bigs in foul trouble.  Portland will not be seeing Travis Outlaw on the court until February or March, or perhaps even later.  Even when Nicolas Batum returns, Portland will need Cunningham.  If Outlaw was a stretch at PF, Batum would be the equivalent of doing the splits.  It simply would not work.  Looking at Cunningham’s physique, there is yet hope that he can contribute defensively against the monsters that Portland will face in the West at the forward position (Anthony, Duncan, Durant, and the like).

Over the next few weeks, it should become apparent if Cunningham is ready to head Portland’s call.  It’s a lot to ask from a young player in his position, but Portland will be a better team if he can fill the void left by Batum and Outlaw, rather than Juwan Howard.

Tags: Channing Frye, Dante Cunningham, DeJuan Blair, Jeff Pendergraph, Juwan Howard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nate McMillan, Nicolas Batum, Travis Outlaw