He never wore a Portland Trail Blazers uniform, but he did briefly don a team hat back on draft night 2005. That’s as close as Linas Kleiza ever got to Portland. Four years later and playing in the Western Conference Finals, the Denver Nuggets forward is showing many he’s no fluke.

It’s so hard to tell.

Front office types rarely admit they let one slip by, but in this case Portland did. Watching the 6’8, 245 pound Kleiza chip in 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench in the Nuggets Game 2 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s hard not to picture those numbers coming off a bench desperate for muscle and scoring appeal at power forward.

Sounds familiar.

I can remember that draft day deal going down in 2005 – Portland’s second trade of that late June day. Been keeping my eye on Kleiza ever since, curious how it would all play out in the end. Fast-forward four years: During the last home game of the season at the Rose Garden, I sat courtside as a handful of Denver Nuggets players got in some early floor time. So for about 45 minutes I sat and watched as Kleiza went about his pregame warm-ups launching three after three after three.

Nothing but net. Nonstop.

I get it though. I get the swap – even knowing Denver got the better end of the deal. At the time, the trade – which sent Kleiza and Ricky Sanchez (35th overall) to Denver for Jarrett Jack - made complete sense. Jack would be the safety net just in case Portland’s Sebastian Telfair experiment failed. And we all know how that one turned out, both for Telfair and Jack.

In '05 though, the Blazers made the move for the future – a position they currently find themselves in once again not only at the point, but also a reserve power forward.

Which brings me back to Kleiza.

Did I mention he will be a restricted free agent this coming summer? 

Wonder if he still has that hat lying around....

pic via: zimbio

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