I've recently had this hunch that I'm actually borderline embarrassed to share... but here goes. Meyers Leonard is going to have a breakout season.... There I said it, now let me tell you why. If you look backat his stats over his career he was progressing and showing to be a decent backup caliber center... Note that I said "Center". He has a centers body at 7'1" and 255lbs. Meyers was on course until Lamarcus left and Stotts decided to switch Meyers to be a stretch 4. He is a very effective shooter around the paint, but rarely shoots there in the current offense, we can talk about that at length in a different thread if we need to. The main though I am having is Meyers this season is really in a position to succeed for the 1st time in a while. There has been pressure for him to start early on as a center then as the PF. I think all that has changed now. With Vonleh, Swanigan, Davis, Aminu and even Collins there is zero need for Meyers to play PF. With Nurkic, Meyers won't sniff starting at the 5, both of those aspects were an issue even this past year until Nurkic came along and Vonleh solidified the PF as his spot to lose. So back to now, Meyers can focus on being the backup C, he has good hands and passes well, rebounds well and defensively does better than most give him credit for, WHEN he's at the 5 guarding centers. He will have very little pressure in terms of expectations of starting, instead he can settle into a role that is good for him. Come off the Bench and be utilized the same way as Nurkic is. So yeah there it is my bold prediction for the season is Meyers has a breakout season.
but for what team? It could happen, but.... So could Swanigan, so could Collins, so could Aminu, so could Vonleh. That being said, I hope you're right. I just worry that he'll take minutes from Swanigan and Collins and not "break out".
I don't think that would be the case because I don't think Collins is remotely ready to play the 5, nor do I see him as a 5 ever really. And Swanigan and Vonleh will be the primary rotation at the 4.
This would be a major, major problem. A team needs a solid rotation at every position. If Myers moves to backup center, that leaves a big hole. Who is going to play scapegoat? barfo
Meyers has played center at times over the past couple of years. The "Boogie stopper" memes and all came from him playing center. He's looked just as lost at center as he has at power forward. He's not a good positional defender at center but he's relatively better banging with a big man than being taken out onto the perimeter by a modern "power wing." Of course, teams will still exploit him on the perimeter by putting his man into a pick-and-roll, forcing him to make decisions in space, which he's poor at. He's also not a shot-blocker, which more and more is becoming a must at the 5. If by "break out," you mean he won't look like he belongs out of the NBA altogether, I could imagine that. If you mean he'll look like a good player, or even a good reserve, I think you're being wildly optimistic. He doesn't really have any skills except rebounding (if he's allowed to play near the hoop) and shooting, and even his shot was nothing special last year. If the team gave him 10 minutes per game against immobile centers and told him to focus completely on rebounding, he might not kill the team. That's as far as I'd go, personally.
He's also a very good passer, and a good communicator on the offensive end (an underrated and often invisible contribution). I also don't expect him to "break out", but I don't think it's beyond reason to think that he could reach average backup/not-a-liability status.
It would be an opportune time for him to step up his game and give us all hope he'll get even better with age. He's not the young kid with p-p-p-potential anymore. But I agree with a lot of what @Schilly wrote. He was improving year over year at C and declined at PF. He's been bit by injuries enough to harm his growth as a player, but not enough to cripple him. I think he's in good health. Let's see him for real this time.
A very good passer? I think that's a pretty large overstatement. He's not a black hole, but I don't think he's anything more than average as a passer. As far as him being a good communicator on the offensive end--I haven't really noticed him getting guys set up or into an offensive set, but I will admit that I haven't really been looking for that when watching, so I may have missed it.
I mean if this bold prediction is right, i welcome it but god damn no other NBA player I can recall has been this terrible and gotten this many opportunities to show otherwise. He gets the minutes, I just never see dude improve.
