Last year at this time many on this board thought Meyers was a total flop and not worth ever seeing in a Blazer uniform again. I still liked his potential, but most thought he was pathetic. Well, a year later and I think this board overall has pretty high hopes for Meyers. 42% from 3, and a 93% clip from the stipe. And although his defense is still sub par, it's really getting drastically better, he holds ground and is even finally boxing out. Well, he volunteered to come to summer league, perhaps to play or maybe just practice, but he wanted to play with all the young blood and work on his game. We all know a month ago he was already working in the gym with excoach Kim to improve, which is great for his continued development. So, a few questions. Is he going to play at pf or popularize the stretch C position? What parts of his game do you think he is working on, what should he work on? Will he be a starter this season? What type of production do you see from Meyers. Personally, I see him starting but not sure if it will be alongside Plumblee or Davis. I'm thinking he would be best at stretch 4 next to Plumblee where Plum could defend around the basket and Meyers wouldn't be so vulnerable. On offense, plumb is a 5 feet and in player, so the two wouldn't crowd each other. Also, Meyers could stretch the floor for Lillard, which is going to be desperately needed. With the loss of 4 starters, I expect a real breakout year for Meyers, averaging 30mpg, and a double double of 18 and 10.
15-17 PPG 7-8 RPG 3PT shooting at or near 40% -- I'll go 38% Above average post defense, still needs work on his p&r defense.
He certainly was a bright spot in the playoffs. But, as with CJ, I'm cautious about reading too much into that. It seems to me that the Grizz's game plan was to limit our good players and take a chance on the scrubs. Well, the scrubs did good, but the Grizz still killed us. And CJ only did good after Conley went down and Memphis was trying to guard him with Udrih and Calathes. I guess Meyers makes me nervous because he doesn't do the things that you want in a big (he's not a great rebounder, he's a poor shotblocker) so, while I'm happy that he is really good at things bigs aren't normally good at (3 point shot) and nicely athletic, I can't fit him in to my ideal team in my head. He's like Channing Frye with flashier dunks.
Great Post and start of discussion thread... I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet. I actually think he's a lock for starting, unless we do some major trade for a proven PF (not likely). I also agree that he should start at PF because of what you just mentioned about stretching the floor. Since Leonard knows all the plays Aldridge gets, he can plug and play into that roll. His advantage is he's a better passer, has better hands and better screener, but his disadvantage is he has a blockable shot, doesn't have the post game, hasn't had the defensive game plan for him. I hope he worked on his defense and post game the most this summer because we are gonna need it.
I'm hoping for ~15/10 on decent percentages. I think his percentages last year were a bit inflated because he only took the best shots he could find and turned down a lot of bad shots. He's going to have the green light this year (he better) so I expect his efficiency to dip a bit. Realistically though I'm thinking he ends up somewhere like: 13/8/2 on 48/39/88 in ~30 minutes. I just want to see marked improvement but I also have the tiniest glimmer of hope that he makes a gargantuan leap and averages 18/11 and makes us all forget about you know who. EDIT: He's about as good of a rebounder as Aldridge. I don't really think it's going to be that hard for him to replace Aldridge's rebounding.
Regression. Not because he is an American born white center, but because he will have an increased roll with defenses focusing on and actually scheming for him. His numbers may go up, but his efficiency will plummet. Still horrible defensively
The way our roster is constructed right now he needs to start and play big minutes. We need him to stretch the floor when Plumlee, Aminu, and Davis are out there. Hopefully he stays healthy because we need his shooting. I don't expect him to be consistent at the start but hope he will continue to get better over the course of the season with his new role.
I think you nailed what he needs to work on. He has a solid base, good hands and is very athletic, three major components to becoming good in the post. It basically comes down to desire to play where it hurts. We know LMA was very capable down low but just hated playing there. That's why he refused to play center anywhere. Hopefully Meyers has big white balls and will relish the challenge more as time goes on.
I don't think he will have a problem with playing physical. I'm just hoping he can play in control enough so he avoids being in foul trouble. The fortunate thing is "banging bigs" are a thing of the past. I actually would love our team to make that game relevant again.
I smell a przybilla fan. Me too. There is something so awesome about a player who enjoys the battles, with grit, toughness and work ethic dominating the more "talented". I don't think that's Meyers, but he's closer than LMA will ever be.
Call me a Brian Grant fan. I've seen Leonard take some elbows to the jaw and he kept on playing. Reminds me a lot of how Brian Grant took that elbow from Malone and kept playing with his eye split open. We need warriors! That is Rip City!
Last season he made the leap from a do-nothing to a GREAT beneficiary. This season the question is Can he make the leap from beneficiary to instigator. My guess is no, but we'll see. It's also possible someone else will make the leap and he won't need to.
I've always been in Meyers' corner. I think he will start with Plumlee. I agree with MM that his 'efficiency' numbers will go down due to his increased role and ability for defenses to focus on him. At the same time, I think Meyers is going to 'break out', but be inconsistent. Meyers has tools LaWhatsHisName never had.
I think Meyers is going to start with Ed Davis... Projecting Meyers is very difficult IMO. I believe he's been a much better player, even on defense, than the collective voice in this place has given credit for. Physically I saw him bang hard with Gasol in the playoffs. There aren't many other physical centers outside of Gasol, and Meyers not only didn't back down he had a "bring it" attitude. Then we get into physical tools and size. There is only one other center in the league with Meyers combination of size and athleticism, Deandre Jordan. Meyers though has good, borderline great hands. Look at his shooting . His passing is very good too. He's always been a better rebounder than given credit for too. To me the difference this year is going to be his confidence.
Actually, Meyers is a pretty decent rebounder - he is not great, but his TRB% is higher than people like Roy Hibbert, Robin Lopez or Lamarcus Aldridge. He could be higher, but let's face it, this guy was not known like Paul Millsap as a rebounding hawk in the past (FWIW, Meyers was better than Millsap this year)
Looking at his splits, if he does not improve but expands his minutes to 30 a game, Leonard will average 15/7 and 4 fouls. However, if you look at his 2015 splits versus his career splits as a starter, you begin to see the line of his improvement. Extrapolating out linearly gets you 19/9 So I think that's your range: 15-19 / 7-9. The mean of the range is 17/8 per 30, which is very roughly equivalent to rookie/second year Tex. Fouls are the thing to watch out for, though; his foul rate is increasing so he might have trouble staying on the court for 30 minutes a night.
