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Trail Blazers: Noah Vonleh Running Out of Time?

By McLayne Bertsch

Mar 4, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh (21) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Trail Blazers 117-115. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh (21) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Trail Blazers 117-115. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Noah Vonleh is still very young, but is he running out of time with the Trail Blazers?

It’s a funny question to ask about a 20 year old, yet relevant. Young NBA players do not typically have a better chance to succeed than Noah Vonleh’s position last season. As a starter for most of the season, he was inconsistent on both ends of the floor and ultimately benched as the Trail Blazers geared up for the playoffs. With the transactions made this offseason by GM Neil Olshey, it’s tough to imagine a large role for Vonleh this season.

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Now that Vonleh’s rookie contract is nearing an end – the Trail Blazers will have to decide on whether to pick up his team option for the 2017-2018 season – is his time running out with the Trail Blazers?

Before diving into the question – it seems impossible that Noah Vonleh still cannot legally order an alcoholic beverage in Portland. It’s one reason Stotts and Olshey gave him such a long leash last year. As an unsually young third year player, Vonleh’s body might still be developing.

When Olshey acquired Vonleh before last season, the Trail Blazers were in rebuilding mode. They were willing to take on long-term projects and give long leashes to youngsters like Vonleh. A year later, the Trail Blazers have added a couple key pieces to a second round playoff team. The patience to let Vonleh develop on the court might not be the same this season.

Trail Blazers Vonleh
Dec 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts talks to forward Noah Vonleh (21) against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s important to understand that even though players don’t put up strong counting statistics, they can still have an impact. Unfortunately, most advanced statistics also do not favor Vonleh.

The most telling statistic for his season was the on/off court plus/minus: Of the ten players who played significant minutes last season, Vonleh’s presence on the court was by far the worst for the Trail Blazers. Portland was outscored by 4.1 points per 100 possessions when Vonleh was on the court. When you consider Vonleh played a majority of minutes with the starters, it’s not a good look. (By comparison, CJ McCollum had the best rating at +5.5 per 100 possessions.) 

Portland was outscored by 4.1 points per 100 possessions last season when Vonleh was on the court

Looking forward to this season, it will be much tougher to earn playing time at the 4. Al-Farouq Aminu looks to be the starter. Meyers Leonard was paid handsomely this off season to also be a long-term solution at the position. Not to mention, the addition of Festus Ezeli suggests the Trail Blazers might test lineups with Ed Davis or Mason Plumlee at the 4. The Trail Blazers have too many established options to experiment with Vonleh starting this year.

Vonleh definitely deserves more playing time to develop; at 20 years old, he is still a baby in NBA years. Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers are working on being a perennial playoff team with the core they have developed. Vonleh might be better suited on another team that is working on a rebuild – what the Trail Blazers were supposed to be doing last year.