Speaking of no talent U.S. born white centers

I'm actually starting to really enjoy Leonard more. He is still very raw; but I noticed his skills are improving with each game. If he could rebound and position defend with more efficiency; he will be an awesome pick-up for us. I still have high hopes on this kid. He definitely gots that Vanilla Gorilla type intimidation quality about him. At least the desire to be that type of player.

 

I love Leonard the person. He is quirky and goofy. I really hope he turns into a double double guy at some point. Like Drummond has been doing lately. That guy looks like what Greg Oden lite would have looked like healthy. He has been impressive so far.

 

And he's aggressive on the court. He'll be fine once he controls his foul rate.

 

If Leonard averaged 10 and 9 in 31 minutes a night for most of his career would that be a disappointment to most people?

After re-looking up Joel's stats they weren't that impressive outside of rebounding:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/przybjo01.html

 

I was really hoping that drummand would drop to the 11th pick. It was actually pretty close. Out of all the centers that came out of last years draft, Drummand was the one I was goo goo for.

 

I would! I would be really happy if our 11th pick produced 10/10/1.5 blocks per game. I would be ecstatic if he averaged 2.5 blocks a game though.

I think you are missing the greatest asset Pryzbilla gave us. He was an intimidator and the guy that would alter shots around the rim. I can't remember how many times he would scratch a dunk attempt on great finishers. That is a great asset man!

 

And he could set a mean pick!

 

If Leonard can give us 9.8 / 7.2 in 33 minutes (basically his same rate of production over a full game) as a starter by the end of the 2013-2014 season, I think he'll be fine. Natural growth in his game and maturity in his body will take care of the rest, giving him an average of something like 13.0 / 9.5 by midway through the 2016-2017 season.

 

I am not missing it, I know it didn't really show in the box score so it wouldn't show up on the link. I don't think Leonard magically becomes Joel in that sense though. Leonard will have good block numbers. Probably not the intimidation factor and timely ones that Joel did though.

 

I would take this but honestly if you are drafting a Center of the future aren't you hoping for more? Not to say he couldn't get more... Seems like low expectations though. (Talking more your first numbers then the second ones)

 

I think expecting that out of a 22-year old is fine. 9.8 / 7.2 in 33 minutes isn't world-beating, but he's not our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th option. Also, I bet his rebounding numbers go up as a starter given the better defense they play over the bench players. But as a baseline, I think it's fine.

 

It's funny that most talk about Leonard as mainly a defensive C, comparisons to Chandler, etc. And it's certainly what I WANT him to be. But right now his offensive game is much better than his defense, IMO.

 

I was all over Drummond. I think he's going to be legit. He's looked pretty good thus far, and still improving. With that guy, it's going to come down to effort/drive.

 

Yep, a better comparison for him at this point might be Byron Mullens. Don't laugh check out the offensive numbers and rebounding that guy is putting up this year.

 

That would be solid, not lottery pick solid, but solid numbers for sure. I would hope for more than that from him though

 

leonard has 10X the ws/48 thus far this year

 

so the average lottery pick center averages better than 10/9 for their career?

doubt it

 

Not if he learns to defend and swat without ending up out of position. The center should be a threat to score but not necessarily a primary scorer. Defense, rebounding, a little scoring and the ability to pass out of trouble is all he needs to be well worth the 11th pick. Don't expect it for a couple of years though.

Oops I forgot setting a mean screen. That would be great.

 

Good point: his DRtg is average for the Blazers (in that it's slightly below average for the NBA), but he's got the highest ORtg on the team (119). His WS/48 are also strangely high (4th best) for his PER (6th best). In most other cases on our team PER and WS/48 correlate strongly; if you rank WS/48 and compare it to a ranking of PER, the order is basically the same, except for Leonard.

I like his range (out to 18 feet), and think it will help us in ways we haven't really seen from a center since Sabas or Duckworth... in fact, Leonard's PER is already similar to Duckworth's 1989-90 campaign. http://bkref.com/tiny/zJxTu If you look at the advanced stats, you can see a potential in Leonard to be pretty potent on offense if his Usage is allowed to go up. Portland rand several plays for Duck to get him warmed up, and could do the same for Meyers.