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Mailbag: Meyers Leonard as Portland’s starting center

By David MacKay

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Meyers Leonard could be an interesting sink-or-swim case study if the Portland Trail Blazers do not re-sign current starting center Robin Lopez, if that’s what you mean. In the event that Lopez walks in free agency, I would support Leonard’s claim to a starting position over Chris Kaman or Joel Freeland. Leonard appears to have reached the conversion point between liability and asset that makes players his age so valuable with developmental attention, so an increase in responsibility may be the perfect catalyst for growth.

Would this make the team better right away? Probably not. The whole point of acquiring Lopez in 2013 was to pair LaMarcus Aldridge with a rim protector so that he wouldn’t have to be out of his comfort zone on defense. While Leonard has shown flashes of sufficient low-post defense (specifically when defending Marc Gasol in the playoffs) he still has a ways to go before rim protection can be considered the strength that his teammates need it to be.

As you pointed out, though, the offensive side of the ball would look pretty unique. Leonard was Portland’s most efficient scorer in 2014-15, leading the Trail Blazers in 2PT% (58.6), 3PT% (42.0), and FT% (93.8). Throwing him into the mix as a stretch-5 would make every starter a legitimate 3-point threat at all times. Since Head Coach Terry Stotts’ offense relies heavily on spacing, a Leonard-inclusive lineup could be fun to watch if you’re okay with conceding the paint from time to time.

In order for this fantasy to become a sustainable reality, Leonard needs to make a few changes, some of which are already in progress. For starters, he needs to work on jumping straight up without swinging his arms downward when contesting shots. He has gotten a lot better about not swiping when defending the drive, but he still fouls at a high rate on awkward lunges and the occasional trebuchet-style hack. You can’t have your starting center in foul trouble every night and expect the team to run fluidly.

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Fortunately, this was an area in which we saw improvement later on in the season. He does alright when he is able to establish position early. As the pace of NBA basketball noticeably slowed down for him with rotation minutes, we saw him learn where he needed to be before he needed to be there. Since he has respectably fast feet, I would expect his pouncing problem to gradually subside as his feel for using his quickness develops.

On the offensive end, Leonard has to become a threat in the pick and roll. Face-up jumpers at the elbow and baby hooks in the post are great and all, but his offensive role will always be limited until he can set harder picks, catch passes on the run, and finish through contact at the rim. I believe he can be exceptional in the P&R with practice, but he must abandon that trademark Leonard hesitance first. It is only a matter of time before opposing defenses begin stepping out on his open jumpers and force him to evolve.

On a more abstract note, I would place his overall awareness in the bottom half of players at his position. Right now, you can still see him checking mental boxes with the sort of careful deliberation that almost distracts from the natural flow of the game. In the effort to be a good decision maker, he becomes a slow decision maker, which manifests in the aforementioned hesitance on offense, and frantic reaction on defense. This problem, too, may eventually be solved with a sink-or-swim approach. In Leonard’s exit interview, he spoke on the importance of in-game experience:

"There is a difference between playing 1-on-1 with Joel [Freeland] and Chris [Kaman], there is a difference between playing a playoff game, and there is a difference between watching film and trying to understand what I can do. The live, in-game action is what really helps me get better, helps me understand the game. So I have to continue to try to take advantage of the time that I did this season moving forward."

Ultimately, I am eager for Leonard get his shot. I don’t think he is quite ready to start on a team that has hopes of title contention just yet, but I could see him making strides enormous enough to get him there under the right circumstances. Whether or not those circumstances present themselves next season is yet to be seen. Either way, I like the pace at which he is progressing.

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