Charles James Elleby has started in double digit games for the Portland Trail Blazers this season — a sentence not one Blazers fan would have anticipated reading in October.
But injuries and a new roster direction left the re-tooling Blazers in dire need of any warm bodies capable of manning the wing positions.
Selected with the 46th pick in 2020, the relative unknown Elleby was less than an afterthought at the draft. I distinctly recall our draft expert Steve Dewald hurriedly sifting through his notes that night, trying to offer a rational reason as to why the Blazers might have selected the former Washington State Cougar.