NBA Rumors: Change of Scenery Would Not Mean More Minutes for Chris Kaman

Right now it's looking like Chris Kaman's stay with the New Orleans Hornets will consist of 17 games played and six starts. He's probably never going to put on the uniform again.

The Hornets don't want him to, of course. Kaman has been put on the trading block and the word from John Reid of The Times Picayune is that Kaman is going to be kept away from the team until he is traded.

Reid's sources tell him that there is action on the veteran big man. At least five teams have given the Hornets a call about him, including the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets.

Kaman is valuable trade bait because he has an expiring contract and because he's a solid big man teams can use off their bench. The trouble is that Kaman managed to alienate New Orleans' management exactly because he was coming off the bench.

Kaman is (or was) averaging about 23 minutes per game for the Hornets this season and he said last week that it's been a tough transition seeing as how he's used to playing upwards of 30 minutes every night. He was apparently "unwilling to accept" his role as a backup.

I'm not going to put words in Kaman's mouth, but I'm going to assume he's hoping for increased playing time on his new team if and when he gets traded. He wants to play and it's in his interest to build his value as he speeds towards free agency. He needs to show he can play.

But let's be reasonable here. There are minutes for Kaman to log out there, but he's not going to luck into a starting job or 30-35 minutes per game. That's just not the kind of player he is anymore.

Kaman is game to play 30-35 minutes on occasion, but that kind of action hasn't been an everyday thing for him since his all-star campaign in 2009-2010. This is because Kaman has become an injury risk. Increasing the risk of an injury by running him out there for 30-35 minutes night after night just isn't very smart.

Every team around the league knows that this is the book on Kaman. One lucky team is actually going to deal for him and bolster its frontcourt in the process, but a significant increase in minutes is not in the cards for Kaman. He is best used as the Hornets were using him, for roughly 20-25 minutes per game.

It's just not realistic for Kaman to expect anything more than that. 

Kaman can look on the bright side, though. He's going to end up on a contender, so he'll at least be able to exchange New Orleans' losing culture for a winning one. He's not going to put himself in line to earn a huge contract in the offseason, but players fresh off stints with winning teams do tend to draw a little extra attention.

His situation is not ideal, but Kaman will have to take the cards he is dealt after he is dealt.