A Canzano piece I actually agree with

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2013/07/canzano_trail_blazers_already.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Pretty spot on.

 

I liked this post in the comments section:

 

Canzano lifted the premise of this article from reading this board. He was posting here last week.

 

Did he go by PDXkass?

 

Ya I completely disagree. I see him becoming Byron Mullens at best and not just cuz he's white

 

Can't wait for the MM response.

Well....actually, I can.

 

You could write it for him. Put "Lennay" in it somewhere, too.

 

Byron Mullens has a career FG% of 40%, a career PER of 12 and a career USG of 22.

Mullens has a career WS/48 of .001. Leonard as a rookie was at .97. Leonard had 2.4 WS as a rookie. Mullens has .01 COMBINED after 4 years in the league.

Leonard as a rookie had better number across the board, and is already a much better player than Mullens.

What an odd comparison. Can you elaborate on it, because it seems like a random reach to me.

 

Was Mullens close to as elite of an athlete as ML is supposed to be?

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Canzano taking this position just re-affirms my opinion of Leonard.

Also, this:

 

The Mullens comparison is just bizarre. Leonard is already a much better player than Mullens, yet Mullens has already managed a 4-year career in the NBA.

 

Probably that snarl after he throws it down. I can't imagine what else it means. I have plenty of hope for Meyers; it's his second year and he's got work to do, and I think he can do it. He surely wants to, and that's where it starts.

 

[video=youtube;LXuDra2tG7w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXuDra2tG7w[/video]

He's a C who doesn't know how to use his size on either end of the floor and prefers to shoot 3s. Awful awful player

 

Yes, a much worse player than Leonard. The stats are obvious in that. You only made the comparison because Mullens is white.

 

Spot on.

 

Maybe Canzano will be right -- I'd love to see ML develop into a top flight NBA pivot -- but the history of guys like Meyers (raw, semi-clueless, hyper athletic) makes it seem like long odds.

 

One thing Meyers can do is make shots, though. He shot 52% in summer league, and 55% from the field last year. Those numbers far surpass anything BJ Mullens has done in 4 years of a terrible career. Plus, Meyers shoots 81% from the FT line. Most teams would love to have a 7'1" player with that offensive skillset and athleticism. I'm guessing Olshey feels the same way, and isn't willing to give up on a project who has shown NBA skills at this point.

 

Especially big men that don't play a lick of defense.

 

Nope. Not if that's all he has. And Leonard doesn't even have that. Just because he makes an occasional shot does not mean he has any offensive polish beyond a middle schooler. For example, he cannot catch the ball under the basket without bobbling it and losing it. No offensive skills whatsoever. Just an outside shooter.

 

Well, that's a rather self-contradictory. Last I checked, shooting is considered an offensive skill.

BNM