Portland Trail Blazers
Unexpected gift: The continued value of Toumani Camara
There are many different ways you can begin to describe the Portland Trail Blazers' build over the last couple of seasons. There are bright spots and disappointing ones. Even though the team hasn't seen a big jump in development from Scoot Henderson, who the team believed could be the next face of the franchise, there is one player who the team should feel good about. It's the unexpected value that Toumani Camara has continued to bring to the Blazers. As somewhat of an afterthought at the start of last season, Camara has continued to surprise the team.
I don't think anyone believes that Camara has the necessary star power to completely change a franchise but it would be foolish not to consider him a value part of what the Blazers are building. He's continued to take steps forward in his development and is having a swell season in which he's averaging nine points and five rebounds on 43 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from 3-point range. At the very least, it appears that the Blazers have at least one rotation piece for the future defined.
Sacramento Kings
Unexpected gift: The opportunity for change
With the big move of acquiring DeMar DeRozan that the team made during the offseason, it's hard to look at where the team currently stands and consider this year a success. They're two games under .500 and are currently sitting outside the top 10 in the Western Conference standings. However, if there is one unexpected gift that the Kings can hold on to despite their struggle to start the year, it's the fact that they do have the opportunity for change if they so desire. With a pretty flexible roster, the Kings can make moves if they want.
Nearly every player on their roster is tradable. The argument could be made that the Kings don't have any bad contracts on their books at the moment. The Kings are absolutely falling short of expectations at the moment but this team could make a change at any given moment. That may not be valued by many teams across the league but it is a luxury that not many teams have at the moment. At this point, with the trade deadline quickly approaching, the Kings should embrace it.