Nice little article by Freeman http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2013/03/blazers_center_meyers_leonard_shows_progress_but_p.html#incart_river_default
Hibbert is an interesting comparison. -------Hibbert....Leonard Rook age: 22...20 Years college: 4...2 Last year in college: 13/6rebs....13/8rebs Current age: 26...20 Current PER: 15.7...13.3 Rook PER: 16.1...13.3 DRTG: 96...108 Rook drtg: 107...108 Even LaMarcus, who was reasonably polished coming out of college, didn't hit his full stride until his 5th season. Remember how skinny he was? Leonard was by no means as skinny. But you can just tell from his shoulders he can get bigger, especially lower body strength that will help his post defense.
You've been on the ML bandwagon for a while now. What do you think his ceiling is, and how likely is he to reach it? If his ceiling is just a starting caliber C, and he'll take a few years to get there, then we do have to consider other options for now, even if it comes at the cost of retarding Leonard's development. LA is in his prime, Nic and Wes are entering theirs, and Dame is going to get there soon enough as well. Can't waste those years if all we're going to get is a guy like Dalembert ultimately.
What is just a starting caliber C though? What numbers would be better than that? Would you consider 13.9 pts/game 6.9 rbs/game and 1.5 blks/game next year just starting caliber or better than that? Guess how many Centers do that in the NBA? Not many. http://www.basketball-reference.com...&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ts_pct That line above would put ML in the top 4 of Centers amazingly.
You weren't asking me, but I think his ceiling is that he could be the most complete scoring center in the game. Dunker, midrange shooter, could even add a three point shot. Has he taken a single bad shot all year? I can't remember one. I don't quite see it on the defensive/rebounding end, though. I guess he could develop like Hibbert did. He certainly tries hard. I just have a feeling he's going to hit a streak of 20 point games at some point early in his career and he'll just stop progressing on the defense/rebounding side. Very much like Aldridge did. Defense wins championships, but offense wins big contracts and All Star selections. There may come a point in 2-3 years where we decide we want to hitch our wagon to Leonard and replace Aldridge with a lunch pail defender/rebounder at PF. Not saying this is guaranteed. It's just how I see his ceiling.
The biggest difference is the biggest thing we need per 36, Hibbert had 3 bpg, while Leonard has 1.5 per 36 FTA Hibbert had 5.2, while Leonard has 3.1
