The Center Position: Whaddya wanna do?

I never thought I would say this, but I am leaning towards keeping Leonard. He should only play minutes at center though. Yes, he is passive sometimes on offense. Yes, he makes some dumb plays. I think he can still improve on that. I liked what I saw this year as a defender at the center position, and even with his short comings, he is a much more capable offensive player than anyone else that we have. And it would give us one more guy who can space the floor. Also, his passing is pretty underrated. He started the year terribly, so that left a pretty bad taste in our mouths, but he got better throughout the season. Bigs take a bit longer to develop. I wouldn't be shocked to see him come back and eventually be our starting center. Feel free to hate on this, as I can understand all of the reasons not to bring him back. But, after witnessing what olshey did this last off season, I have full trust in his choices. If he goes or stays, it will most likely be the correct decision.

 

Whiteside is a better, cheaper, and younger version of Howard. I'd go after him first of the two.

My first option is still DeRozan.

 

I can respect that. But, I am on the "hell no" sideof the fence (yes, that is a side now) on Derozan. Let Hendo start and take 20 shots a game and you have pretty similar player.

 

I'm not sure I want any version of Howard, to be honest. And DeRozan is a tin star manufactured by the league. If he goes to Portland, and loses his FT shooting, he's basically worthless for the price we'd pay.

 

Except derozan gets to the line literally twice as much as Henderson ever did when he was a starter in Charlotte. And derozans numbers would be more efficient playing under Stotts and alongside dame and cj. He would give Portland an "easy" 20 points every night.

 

Derozan always got to the line even when Toronto was irrelevant.

 

Everyone's FT rate drops when they come to Portland. You can't acquire a guy who lives on the line and expect him to do well. I'd rather acquire a guy known for hitting shots.

 

I don't think he can do 2 of those 3 things. He still doesn't know how to box out a defender. Plumlee is a better rebounder than him. His defense isn't that good either. Think his success there against certain guys is a fluke. You also forgot to mention rim protection, of which he offers zero

 

I have not seen his defensive awareness improve since he was drafted. He looked lost during a lot of their defensive rotations.

On the offensive side, he's not much better. Opposing teams can put their worst wing defender on him and pressure by merely moving towards him. The Clippers did it with a broken down Paul Pierce during the regular season.

 

I'd look to get Al Jefferson on a favorable contract (He's at the point in his career where he might be looking to pull a David West), and play him backup minutes or starting at times for matchup purposes. Solid post work, just what we need...but not all the time, so I think a backup role would work great for both parties.

Would make our team very dynamic without really taking too much away from our current situation.

Keep Plumlee as our starter, he works great in our system with his athleticism, passing, and high BBIQ.

Look to make a change at the 3 and slide aminu to the 4. Or keep aminu at the 3 and get a solid 4.

 

Vesely was a pretty highly-rated international prospect a few years ago when it looked like he was going to be a small forward, but he didn't pan out with the Wizards. I didn't remember him being this big, though.

 

It's all in the matchups and the combinations. Early last offseason, there was talk about the Blazers resigning Aldridge and bringing in Greg Monroe after they signed Aminu and traded for Henderson. While not a Monroe fan, I thought this made sense, because the Blazers had acquired a couple of guys who could matchup defensively with the Warriors' and Thunder's top two scorers and, in addition to having Dame, the Blazers would have a huge advantage in scoring at the 4-5 with LA and Monroe over GS or OKC.

Even if Aldridge had just resigned, with the way CJ had emerged, the Blazers would have created all kinds of issues for the Warriors, because the Blazers backcourt could come close to matching GS point for point, but LA was capable of outscoring the Warrior frontcourt almost by himself -- granted, that was before Green took up his shooting a notch, but you have to wonder how much he could devote to offense if he was trying to guard Aldridge most of the game.

 

I like Plumlee and all, but we need some kind of post presence offensively. Being able to kick it down to a guy who at least is capable of creating down low, would open up so much more for our guards. The fact we got this far with virtually no low post presence is remarkable. Horford would be nice if attainable. Heck, I'd even take Al Jeff.

 

If you can't get a true center, this might be the best route. I think Vonleh might eventually fill that role, but it would take a quantum leap for him to be even average next year. Power forward has been such a revolving door this season ... you don't need a guy to carry the team, you just need someone who has to be respected. I like Harkless, but he's a bit too inconsistent yet, and the Blazers are so undersized at three of the other four spots that I would feel better if we had someone who didn't always need defensive help in the post.

 

I agree completely.

 

I don't think Jefferson would be a good fit because he is one of the biggest black holes in the league. Dame, CJ, Aminu, Henderson ... all are scorers before they are passers, sometime much more scorers than passers. As such, it's hard to see them as primary facilitators, IMO. That's why Batum was the main guy on entry feeds the last couple of years; Dame and Wes looked shot first. You need someone who can pass, and that's what makes removing Plumlee from the starting lineup is you probably have to change another position, too, to replace his ability to involve guys in the offense and keep the ball moving.

So you might be better off acquiring a 4 who can be an interior scoring threat, a strong body when fighting for position inside and a solid rebounder ... like I mentioned above, just a guy who can be consistent. That would definitely make the Blazers better. If you take out Plumlee, you might have to completely readdress the small forward spot.

This is why Vesely intrigues me. He can dribble and pass and he can shoot. I question whether he's even as good a rebounder or defender as Plumlee, though. I suspect he's not, and the Blazers need at least a willing, physical guy at the 5, and Plumlee, even if he doesn't have the bulk to battle the elite centers, at least will sacrifice his body and try.

 

We don't need to replace Plumlee - we just need someone to compliment him. I would be perfectly happy if we had a Joel Pryz type guy to be a rim-protector/enforcer to split time with him.

 

Yeah but... I'd like more than three people on the court to be a threat from 6 feet out...

 

AL fucking Horford!!