Oregon Live - Steve Blake was driving in Portland on Saturday when his agent, Joel Bell, called his cell phone.
The news: The Trail Blazers had traded Blake to Milwaukee along with teammates Brian Skinner and Ha Seung Jin for former All-Star center Jamaal Magloire.
"As soon as he said it, my jaw came down," Blake said Monday, when the deal became official. "I was like, 'Wow. I can't believe it.' I was just silent for a couple of minutes."
A day earlier, he said, the Blazers had assured Blake's agent that his client wasn't being shopped around and that the team already had rebuffed other offers.
Blake said he also was taken aback because he felt he had done everything the team asked of him -- setting roots in Portland, working out in the offseason at the Blazers' facility, and playing well enough to start 57 games last season.
"When I first got here, coach (Nate) McMillan was talking about wanting guys who want to be here, and who live here in the offseason and who work hard for the organization," Blake said. "Those are things I did. I moved here, bought a house, worked out at the facility . . . It just hurts that I did all that and they still felt that someone else would be better."
|