Jan. 6, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Nolan Smith during game against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Trail Blazers 102-77. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Blazers point guard Nolan Smith will not be rejoining the Blazers next season. That’s not exactly out of left field, but it matters. The less money Portland spends on superfluous players the more space they’ll have to sign useful ones. It’s difficult to be an extraneous expense on a team that needs every able body they can find, and I feel badly for him, but the Blazers are just going in a new direction. He may have a tough time finding a new home.

You see, Smith will always have a burden to bear. He will forever be known (amongst those who have heard of him) as ‘that guy drafted ahead of Kenneth Faried’. With the 21^st pick of the 2011 NBA draft, the Blazers selected Nolan Smith because they needed someone to back up, and learn from, Raymond Felton. At the time, it was anticipated that Felton would be good for the team and the rookie alike, but it didn’t turn out that way. Felton’s ineptitude led to Jamal Crawford sharing the point guard duties and Nolan Smith riding the pine. The once promising prospect faded into obscurity while the 22^nd pick, Kenneth Faried, gained national acclaim.

I would love to be able to say that when the dust cleared after wrecking-ball-Raymond, Smith became the bench spark he was always meant to be, but, again, it didn’t turn out that way. Smith never reached his full potential in Portland, and just when he needed to shine for potential buyers he tore his patella tendon. Meanwhile, Kenneth Faried (albeit the superior player regardless) had climbed to new heights after being invited to participate in the 2013 All-Star weekend and becoming the Rising Star MVP. Now Faried is out of the playoffs, but Smith is out of a job.

So who will sign the player that never was? They’d have to be remarkably desperate or unduly optimistic to pick up Portland’s failed experiment. Or would they? Smith has only ever played garbage minutes and he’s still just 24 years old. More importantly, he’s cheap. It could very well be that a fresh start in a new city is just what he needs to get his career on track, even if he is playing for peanuts. Either way, the $1.37 million Portland was paying him can now go toward their bright future instead of a lingering reminder of their dark past.

@davidmackaypdx | @ripcityproject | davidmackaypdx@gmail.com

Feb 2, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Jamaal Tinsley (6) shoots over Portland Trail Blazers point guard Nolan Smith (4) at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Blazers bench was the difference tonight they outplayed the Jazz.Surprising.Barton with 7 pts, Smith with 13 pts and Babbitt 8 pts

— David Locke (@Lockedonsports) February 3, 2013

I’ve said it before, when recapping games this season, but I’ll say it again: there is absolutely no formula for success for the 2012-13 Portland Trail Blazers. We’ve seen this team lose the same way every night (missed too many jumpers and getting shot out of the gym), but almost every time this team wins, it’s done in a completely unique way.

Saturday’s 105-99 win over the Utah Jazz, for another home hold in their second and final home-and-home back-to-back, was arguably the Blazers’ most unique win of the season. How can one make that distinction? Well, look no further than Portland’s locker room post game Saturday evening.

It’s pretty easy to tell how a game went based on the attitude of the Blazers’ locker room. Led by the team’s emotional core (one Wesley Matthews), Portland’s locker room after a loss can a pretty quiet place. After a win, it’s just streamers and a keg short of a party. Saturday was a happy locker room.  And it was a unique kind of happy considering that a big crowd of media had gathered in front of the locker of Nolan Smith. That’s right, Nolan Smith.

Nolan’s been in the news a little bit lately, and it hasn’t been for positive reasons. Following a horrific three-minute stretch on January 19th against the Milwaukee Bucks, what has been a pretty down season for the second-year man out of Duke, was beginning to take on the look of a career-ender. But even in those down times, the media has basically left Nolan to himself.

That’s pretty indicative of his standing on Portland’s roster. If a guy like Wesley Matthews, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Damian Lillard falls into an extensive slump, there would be questions to be asked and answered. For Nolan, he’s left alone by local scribes when he doesn’t play, which is often, and equally ignored when he plays but struggles. There is a story there when it comes to Nolan Smith, but even the most ego-driven hack journalists have the sense enough to not kick an also-ran, bottom-tier, professional basketball player (who by every account ever, even mine, is basically the nicest guy in the league) when he’s down.

So seeing a gathering of cameras and writers waiting for Nolan Smith, as they were Saturday night, was quite rare, to say the least. The Blazers got all they could handle from the Jazz on Friday. If they were going to get a much-needed win on Saturday, help was going to have to come from somewhere. Without Wesley Matthews (scratched right before tip with an ankle injury) and Ronnie Price (also out with an ankle), Nolan Smith was going to have to play some minutes, a scary proposition considering that Nolan’s last few outings had not been either long or productive.

Nolan checked into Saturday night’s game with 3:10 to play in the first quarter, and it went basically as well as we’ve come to expect.

took 21 seconds for Nolan Smith’s first turnover

— Ben Golliver (@blazersedge) February 3, 2013

But then things changed for Nolan. He handed out a nice dime to Nicolas Batum with a minute and a half left in the first to cut Utah’s lead to one, and then finished the quarter with an eight-footer to give Portland a one-point lead. But that wasn’t it from Nolan. Before the end of his first shift, he’d added another score, equaling his highest point total in just under six minutes of play since scoring five points in garbage time minutes in the Blazers’ loss to the Lakers on the 28th of December.

One good shift wasn’t all Portland would get from Nolan on Saturday night, though, even if five and a half minutes, four points, an assist, and only a single turnover constituted a major improvement over how things have been going for the Blazers’ third-string point guard. And it was the timing of Nolan’s second shift that really took everybody by surprise.

Saturday night, Nolan played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter. Twelve minutes that decided the game’s outcome. And Nolan wasn’t just a bystander in final frame Saturday, taking up the space vacated by Wesley Matthews. Nolan nailed a corner three at the start of the fourth to put Portland up eight, and then contributed a lay-up with five minutes left to put the Blazers up five, then a second corner three (from almost the same spot right in front of Portland’s bench) with three and half minutes to play to extend the home team’s lead to six, and he finished his evening splitting a pair from the line to keep the Blazers up six.

All told, Nolan finished with 13 points (nine in the fourth quarter) and a +7 for the game, leading Portland’s bench unit that scored a very impressive 28 points and was the clear X-factor in the Blazers’ latest big-time win.

And being the unsung hero of another important win was why Nolan stood down a big group of reporters after the fact, happily talking about his exploits.

Success from Nolan Smith, and from the bench as a whole, has to be a welcome sight for Terry Stotts and his staff. Portland has gotten very little from its reserves in 2012-13. Injuries have yet to be a major issue, but losing one or two major pieces could have a serious impact on how this season shakes out in the end. Getting steady contributions from Luke Babbitt (eight points) and Will Barton (seven points), added to the potential re-birth of Nolan Smith might give the Blazers the cushion they need to make and maybe even sustain a Playoff push.

I know it’s one game from Nolan. The test will be to see if he can sustain it or even build off of it. But the confidence his coach has showed in him to give him minutes at all (instead of figuring out a way to play around Nolan) and the enthusiasm and support his teammates have exhibited, has to make Nolan feel like maybe it was the run of bad games that was the fluke and not his selection in the NBA Draft two years ago.

Either way, Nolan Smith showed on Saturday night that in the NBA all a player needs is an opportunity. That should be motivation enough for Nolan, not to mention the other guys on his roster looking for a chance to make a splash in the second half of 2012-13.

As they say, a high tide lifts all ships. A good game from Nolan Smith improves everybody on Portland’s bench.

The Blazers start a six-game road trip in Minnesota on Monday that will lead right into the All-Star Break. LaMarcus Aldridge has called it a “make-or-break trip.” He’s probably right considering the Lakers, the Mavericks, and the Timberwolves are four, five, and five and a half games behind Portland in the West and two of those three teams are on this trip (Minny and Dallas). The Rockets are on this trip too, and they are a game ahead of the Blazers.

A couple of wins will go a long way to improve Portland’s long-term outlook, especially if one of those wins comes against the Rockets. A slide could put the Blazers out of the Playoffs for sure. An 0-fer and it’s time to get Meyers Leonard into the starting lineup.

Couple of quick things:

• Speaking of Meyers Leonard, he was the outlier on Portland’s bench Saturday night. Leonard logged six minutes and 22 seconds, picked up two fouls, turned it over once, and grabbed two rebounds. As has become the trend, Meyers played zero minutes in the second half.
• Nicolas Batum fell a single assist short of yet another triple-double.
• Post game Chris Haynes of Comcast asked both Damian Lillard and Will Barton about their picks for Sunday’s Super Bowl. Barton is from Baltimore, and naturally picked the Ravens. Lillard is going with the 49ers, even if he’s from Oakland and not San Francisco. When asked if picking the Niners might upset Raider fans, he said he’d rather the team across the bridge wins the Super Bowl and not the team on the other side of the country. Damian Lillard, unknowingly, proved my sister’s point that a person can be a fan of a team from Oakland and a team from San Francisco at the same time. The Bay Area certainly is a weird place.

Box Score

Standings

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Feb 2, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Jamaal Tinsley (6) shoots over Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Will Barton (5) at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Terry Stotts has had some ups and downs in his first 41 games as Portland’s head coach. Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Monday night’s heartbreaking 98-95 loss to the Washington Wizards, the worst team in the NBA record-wise, marked the exact mid-way point in the 2012-13 season. Forty-one games down, 41 to go. What better way to celebrate making it halfway to the end than to take a deeper look at what we’ve already seen?

In this first of a two-part mid-season review, I will be breaking down every member of Portland’s roster (active and inactive), giving each Blazer a grade. Each capsule will include a few important stats to help gauge level of play, a paragraph or two of my personal feelings about each player and his performance, and a letter grade.

I’ll list each player in reverse order based on minutes played, meaning I’ll start with the guys that barely play and finish with the guys who play all the time.

Grading is standard school-style, and breaks down as follows:

A: Excelling Above Average

B: Above Average

C: Average

D: Below Average

F: Failure

I: Incomplete

Quick note, I wanted to ask some of the principals about how they felt the first half of the season went so I could include their opinions along with my own. Just so you know, answering kind of frivolous questions is not something pro basketball players want to do after losing for the sixth straight time and then being forced to talk about it for TV cameras and reporters. Which is to say, I spared myself the indignity, and didn’t ask.

Here goes:

Elliot Williams

Stats: Inactive

Elliot Williams is the forgotten man of this season. Williams, drafted 22nd overall by the Blazers in the 2010 NBA Draft, has played a total of 24 games over the course of three seasons. Elliot missed his first year with a knee injury, most of last season with a shoulder injury, and all of 2012-13 with an injury to his Achilles tendon. I’m big on Elliot’s game, what of it we’ve seen, and his athleticism and scoring attitude could have been huge for Portland this season considering the total lack of scoring punch off the bench. If you think too, that since the Blazers’ bench is basically non-existent, how a healthy Elliot might be playing around 15 to 20 minutes a night, developing into a very talented basketball player right before our eyes, you’ll probably agree that Elliot Williams has gotten a pretty raw deal.

The one real positive take away about Elliot Williams in 2012-13 is despite the injury and the non pick-up of his contract extension, Williams has seemed to stay engaged. He’s around the team, both at home and on the road, something an injured Greg Oden hardly ever did, and he’s in the locker room talking it up with his teammates seemingly every night. I still believe Elliot has potential to break through in the NBA. He needs time, though, to make up for all the minutes he hasn’t played. The good news is that not picking up Elliot’s existing extension, the Blazers might be able to retain Williams for cheaper than he is currently signed for. I’ll be surprised if that happens, but there’s always a chance.

Grade: I (Incomplete could be the title of the Elliot Williams Story if it were published today)

Nolan Smith

Stats: 8.2 minutes per game, 2.4 points per game, 1.1 assists per game, 20 games played, 4.4 turnovers per 36 minutes

We know the story on Nolan Smith, we’ve known it for awhile. Nolan’s a great kid, he’s got a great story, the best coach in the world has his back, he’ll certainly have a long and fruitful career. Unfortunately, that long and fruitful career won’t be with the Blazers and probably shouldn’t be in professional basketball. It’s hard to watch Nolan this season and not wonder what the Blazers were thinking by selecting him, while also wondering what Nolan himself must be thinking watching a kid from Weber State fill the role of point guard of the future that he was selected to maybe try to fill.

Smith fell out of the rotation early in the season, after recovering from a concussion in Summer League, but was given a second chance to prove himself in January. That second change got away from him early in Portland’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. As I said at the time, it’s hard to stick a whole loss on a guy who played less than three minutes in the actual game in question, but Nolan’s +/- for that game speaks for itself. Before you call me a Nolan hater, let me say that I watched him in Summer League too, before the concussion of course, and though that maybe he had turned a corner. If Nolan could prove he’s an NBA player, I would gladly keep him around.

Regardless, we’ll always have December 10th of last year. That night in Portland Nolan scored 11 points (a season high), helping his team knock off the Toronto Raptors.

Grade: F

Nolan Smith struggled in the first half of 2012-13. Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Victor Claver

Stats: 12.2 minutes per game, 32% shooting from the field, 2.4 points per game, 6 starts, 5.6 rebounds per 36 minutes, 38% True Shooting Percentage

Portland’s Spanish rookie swingman is the first of the Blazers’ new acquisitions that we as fans should take our time deciding about. Victor Claver has been decent at best, but the question shouldn’t be has he been good this season, it should be can he be good ever. And if you think he can be good, then the follow-up question is how long should it take for him to get good. I personally think Vic has a ton of potential. He seems to be a heady basketball player, he shows some sings of being an intuitive defender, his shot needs work but isn’t that far away from being serviceable.

What worries me some about Claver is his tendency to miss open shots (especially at the rim), and the fact that he has yet to score more than eight points in a game. To be effective, Claver has to figure out what he does best, and do that every time he’s out on the court. If that’s passing, that’s OK. If that’s rebounding, I want to see him relentlessly attack the boards ever night. Right now, I feel like Victor is trying to do everything all at once, and because of that he’s struggled to be effective.

The good news is that Victor is probably very aware that he needs to improve, so it’s unlikely that we’ll spend much of the off-season listening to trade demands from his agent.

Grade: C- (his potential and effort allow him to pass, but just barely)

Joel Freeland

Stats: 9.4 minutes per game, 2.3 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, 1 start, 8.3 total rebounds per 36 minutes, 41% True Shooting Percentage

Joel Freeland is Portland’s other new foreign player who might deserve a little time before we as fans decide his fate. Coming into the season, I felt like Freeland could be the surprise member of this roster. Joel is older than Victor Claver, a little better established, and basically the face of his country’s basketball program (apart from NBA players Loul Deng and Ben Gordon who count as British for the purpose of the Olympics only). Freeland hasn’t quite lived up to my hype. He’s shown potential here and there, but he did go seven straight games to start the season without making a field goal.

Maybe the pace of the game is too fast for him, maybe he’s letting frustration from not being the principal offensive weapon get in the way of him playing effective minutes. Whatever the case may be, Joel Freeland is not where I thought he might be in regards to being an actual NBA contributor. I do think Joel will get there though. He’s shown range on his jump shot, he can battle under the hoop, and I can bet he’s determined as hell to make it work in the U.S. I still think Freeland might benefit from getting in a scrap or too, he always strikes me as that kind of guy. That being said, if one guy on this roster is going to be upset with how his first 41 games have gone, it’s probably going to be Joel Freeland.

Grade: D (as a motivational tool)

Jared Jeffries

Stats: 9.1 minutes per game, 29% field goal percentage, 1.1 points per game, 6 total rebounds per 36 minutes, 6.3 fouls per 36 minutes

Double J, as I choose to call him, is the definition of a tough call. To the naked eye, Jared Jeffries basically doesn’t do anything. He has two games where he’s scored four points (his season-high), has two five-rebound games, and arguably his best night came in a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, meaning he rarely is the difference between winning and losing a game. But, as we know, basketball at the NBA level is about more than just what can be seen. Jared Jeffries is the only actual veteran on the team, he’s a locker room guy, and his defensive presence is a good counter-point to the scatterbrained J.J. Hickson. Do those things make him valuable? That’s what’s hard to say.

I appreciate Jeffries, and what he brings, I just cringe when he goes to the line in a close game, or hoists up an uncontested 15-footer. Jared has taken the unique, back-seat leadership role, and he’s filled the space vacated by Juwan Howard for a few seasons ago. He’s not the biggest surprise of the first half of the season, but I would say that what Portland has gotten from Jeffries is pretty much gravy. If he can add some consistent offense in the second half of the season, who could possible make himself an impact player.

Grade: C+ (passing due to effort, not above average because stats and actual play have to account for something)

Will Barton

Stats: 10.3 minutes per game, 34 appearances, 36% shooting from the field, 2.8 points per game, 9.7 points per 36 minutes, 4.7 total rebounds per 36 minutes

In my note in the opening of this piece, I mentioned that I decided not to ask anybody about their feelings about the first half of 2012-13. Monday night just wasn’t the time. This is not a happy team right now. However, since getting halfway through a season is more monumental for rookies, I did feel like I wasn’t in the wrong asking Will Barton how he felt his first 41 games went. To paraphrase, he is confident, he wants to continue to help his team win, and he has lofty goals for himself. Those are all good things.

Right now, there is no player on Portland’s roster more raw than Will Barton. There is also no other rookie (aside from Damian Lillard of course but he doesn’t really count as a rookie the way Barton does) on the Blazers’ roster with a higher ceiling than Will. He has three double-digit scoring nights to his name. He’s showed great skill at getting to the hoop. And he is totally unfazed by the NBA game. To fulfill his potential as a rookie, Barton has to find a way to stay on the court. Much like Claver, it will behoove Barton in the second 41 games to figure out what he’s best at, and just do that while he’s in the game.

My suggestion is figure out how to settle down a bit and get to the rim without getting called for charging. Will’s a dynamic finisher. If he starts attacking the rim more often, he’ll get more buckets, and he’ll also start getting to the line. Barton is currently shooting less than one free throw a night (1.7 per 36 minutes). That number needs to go up.

Grade: B- (A little high, I know, but I see a lot of good things in the future from Will, and I’m giving him the grade I hope he earns in the second half of the season, a classic grading technique)

Sasha Pavlovic

Stats: 12.8 minutes per game, 2.2 points per game, 1 start, 43% Effective Field Goal Percentage, 4 total rebounds per 36 minutes, 29% shooting from three

Oh Sasha Pavlovic, what are you doing on this team, and why are you sometimes the most important player on Portland’s bench? This one is basically un-explainable. Sasha Pavlovic’s upside doesn’t exist. He seems to kill every Blazer run whenever he’s in a game. He always turns it over at the worst times. He’s stealing minutes from young Blazers who need the time to improve.

But there he is, hitting a big three when nobody else can score. And there he is again making a big defensive stop or a big rebound right when Portland needs a defensive stop or a big rebound. From what I’ve learned about Terry Stotts in the short time he’s been the Blazers’ head coach, he hands out praise honestly. By that token, there seems to be absolutely no reason that Pavlovic should be name-checked over and over in post game pressers by Portland’s head coach unless he deserves some level of credit.

Sasha has been in and out of the rotation all season. Hopefully as 2012-13 rolls along and the Playoffs become further and further away and development becomes more and more important, Pavlovic will fall out of the rotation completely. That way we won’t have to try and explain why he actually isn’t good and shouldn’t be on the court at all ever. And don’t worry, Portland’s not paying him this season, so you can bet they won’t be paying him next season.

Grade: D (I’d fail him, but I don’t want to be accused of making my grade decisions with a total disregard to some actual physical evidence)

Upcoming (hopefully before game 42 and all of this is irrelevant)

Player Grades (The Rotation)

Best and Worst Games, Biggest Surprises and Disappointments

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

Sasha Pavlovic has not provided much for the Blazers in 2012-13. Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports