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Meet the Trail Blazers’ newly assembled, deep frontcourt

By Michael Keenan

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Even though Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews were relied heavily upon last season, especially from beyond the arc, the Trail Blazers’ frontcourt played a huge role in the team’s success.

Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez formed a strong trio down low, complementing each other’s games perfectly on both ends of the court.

However, the 2015-16 Trail Blazers will be without all three of those players, losing them all in free agency and trades this summer.

Dec 2, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) celebrates with small forward Nicolas Batum (88) and center Robin Lopez (42) during the fourth quarter of the game at the Moda Center. The Blazers won the game 106-102. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Accounting for nearly 43 points and 23 rebounds per game, the team will greatly miss these three. Not to mention the exceptional defense played by Batum and Lopez while Aldridge carried the load on the offensive side of the ball.

The good news is that the Trail Blazers and General Managaer Neil Olshey did a great job of going out and acquiring numerous frontcourt options following the loss of those players.

Al-Farouq Aminu, Moe Harkless, Ed Davis, Noah Vonleh, and Mason Plumlee are players that will help form the new frontcourt. The Trail Blazers are also bringing back guys like Meyers Leonard, and Chris Kaman, who will round out the team’s depth chart.

Aminu, Davis, and Plumlee are the projected starters as of right now, but they will be playing in front of some very skilled role players. Vonleh and Leonard provide youth and are both ready to emerge as steady options this year, while Kaman has been around a long time and possesses a unique veteran presence.

Allen Crabbe, whose contract was just picked up for his third year of the deal, will be back and ready to slide down to small forward when needed. Harkless will also look to capitalize on his intriguing potential as he looks to start fresh with a new team in Portland.

Will this frontcourt be able to do enough to win this team some games next year?

Though a definite downgrade, they might prove to be better than people think.

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Plumlee, who spent his last two seasons in Brooklyn, was forced into a backup role behind star center Brook Lopez. However, for a stretch of 24 games last season in which Lopez was injured, Plumlee started and put up a stat line of 14.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He showed signs of what he could be as a starting center in this league and looks to build on that in his expanded role with the Blazers.

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Davis, who spent time as a starter as well as a role player with the Lakers last season, averaged a respectable 8.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game as a whole. These numbers are solid, but they look even better when realizing that he only averaged about 23 minutes per game. At only 26 years old with a potential starting gig in Portland, Davis could improve those numbers and become a force down low, where he already excels defensively.

Aminu averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last year with the Dallas Mavericks. However, he averaged only 18 minutes per game, stuck behind the likes of Chandler Parsons and sometimes veteran Richard Jefferson. Coming into a likely starting role here in Portland, he will provide great on-ball defense and use his athleticism to make an impact on the game.

While these three players are the likely starters, I believe the guys off the bench will also be of great help and push the starters for minutes. Vonleh, Harkless, and Leonard are all full of potential and ready to contribute to what will be a very deep frontcourt in Portland.

Even though the new frontcourt may not produce like last year’s did, it surely consists of a lot of young talent ready to take advantage of an opportunity and make a splash in this league. They may have what it takes to surprise a lot of people and come up big for the rebuilding Trail Blazers.

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