Meyers Leonard: 2014-15 Season in Review
This will be the first in a series of retrospective analyses of player performance over the course of the 2014-15 NBA season. The goal of this whole exercise is to illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of individual players, using as large a sample size as possible in a given season. Portland heads into the off-season with just four players officially under contract, and depending on just how much the salary cap rises for 2015-16, the team should have roughly $30 million to spend resigning its own free agents—of which there are many—and perhaps chase a few medium to big-name players looking for changes of scenery.
That’s it for contract talk. First up in the series is perhaps the darling of the 2014-15 playoffs for the Trail Blazers: Meyers Leonard.
Terry Stotts has developed a notably quick trigger with young players over his time as head coach in Portland, often banishing seemingly effective bench players to the end of the bench for extended stretches of games. Leonard was certainly no exception to this rule.
Leonard did play 15 games more games than in the previous season, averaging about six more minutes per game, more than doubling his attempts per game, and quite frankly, surprising just about everyone with his three-point shooting. Albeit in limited minutes, Leonard significantly outpaced the league averages for shooting efficiency among power forwards this past season.
via boxscoregeeks.com
He shot 44% from three-point range on open and wide-open shots during the regular season, and then shot a ridiculous 10-13 from behind the arc in the playoffs. Two of those misses were off the dribble, and as impressive as Leonards’ shooting against Memphis may have been, he was never going to make pull-up three pointers against that defense.
His shot chart this season looks more like that of a sharpshooting guard than a 7’1”, 250 lb frontcourt player, granted the vast majority of Meyers’ three-point attempts were wide open.
via statmuse.com
The numbers should still impress, as Leonard breaks type in so many ways. As strange as it may sound, Leonard might actually be a seminal NBA talent; a 7-footer that defends the rim (Leonard defended FG% was actually 5th best among players over seven feet tall last season), while stretching defenses with his outside shooting. He finished 12th in three-point percentage in the regular season, and was the most efficient three-point shooter over seven feet tall by a fairly large margin.
Leonard’s combination of size and strength on one end of the floor, and what appears to be a phenomenal three-point stroke on the other makes for a one-of-a-kind talent in today’s NBA. He defended both Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol admirably in the playoffs, and completely changed the way they played defense on the other end of the floor, parting the seas of Memphis’ staunch defense for penetrating guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. There is a reason Leonard posted the highest net rating of these NBA playoffs.
In all honesty, Leonard might not be truly “good” at this point in his career, but he is most certainly different, and that appears to mean something.
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