Who should become the Portland Trail Blazers’ sixth man?
By Dayton Brown
Possible solutions
Lineup change
The rest of December and early January will tell the world whether or not the Blazers are going to right the ship with what they have. They have been dealt some tough cards and adjustments must be made if these bench struggles continue.
Pat Connaughton has featured in the starting lineup occasionally in place of Harkless. It seems as though Terry Stotts will also be flip-flopping Leonard, Vonleh, and Aminu as starters. This is partially due to injury and partially due to poor play.
CJ McCollum to the bench
However, does the ultimate move to get this team back involve benching one of the stars, as our own Nate Mann suggests here?
He of course doesn’t suggest moving either from being starters to second-stringers, but I will take it to that level with McCollum. McCollum off the bench could provide the spark this team needs as second wind. Imagine having a borderline superstar coming in as a sixth man for Portland.
Now, it of course would weaken the starting lineup, but could balance everything out properly for the Blazers. Again, McCollum would play around the same amount of minutes as he does now., but enter the game at different times. This leads to better matchups and unique lineups who can score.
In his place, either Connaughton or Turner would play opposite Lillard in the backcourt. Harkless or Aminu could move to the three spot, and Vonleh and Nurkić, when healthy, would fill out the frontcourt.
Then, the second unit would feature Shabazz Napier and McCollum sharing and scoring, with rebounding and blocking from Davis.
It won’t solve every problem on the team and is a risky gamble due to the downgrade of our starting lineup. But perhaps its the change Portland needs. To start out tough defensively, then bring in an offensive firecracker. We saw it happen in Oklahoma City with James Harden as they marched to the NBA Finals in 2012.
Rookies
Other smart moves would be to involve the rookies more. Stotts is a fan of “development by sitting and watching,” but desperate times call for desperate measures. Either could flourish with more minutes and both have looked impressive in their limited time this season.
They stretch the floor while providing interior defense, as we saw with Zach Collins against Houston the other night.
Call other teams
If changes are unable to solve, or even provide a band-aid for the Blazers’ faults, general manager Neil Olshey needs to pick up his phone. The Blazers call for a playmaker to replace Lillard and McCollum when they rest.
Why not make a February trade?
It worked it fairly well for Portland last year when they attained Nurkić and a first round pick from Denver. The questions are: who would the Blazers trade for, who with, and who is given up?
Lou Williams
The Los Angeles Clippers have former Sixth Man of the Year Award winner in Lou Williams lighting it up off the bench. He could be a candidate for the award again for this season, but LAC is performing poorly.
The Clippers are way outside of the playoff picture and Blake Griffin’s absence from another injury along with Patrick Beverly’s season-ending surgery has them in near-tank mode.
Would the Blazers be able to pry away Williams from the Clippers if they are still in a deep hole come early 2018?
It would take some draft picks and money moving, but it’s possible.
Getting rid of Turner and his contract would be ideal. The Blazers could package him with Harkless and/or Leonard along with a first round pick.
Williams’ contracts isn’t terrible ($7 million cap hit) and it expires after this season. This would give Portland fire off of the bench and create greater flexibility after this season. That is, of course, if the Clippers are willing to let go of the veteran.
Tyreke Evans and Kent Bazemore
Two other great options also come from struggling teams. Both are wing players Portland desperately could use: Tyreke Evans and Kent Bazemore.
Evans may be nearly impossible to acquire from the Memphis Grizzlies as he just signed with the team this past offseason. He’s also playing well for the 8-18 Grizzlies team. He’s averaging 18.5 points, five rebounds, and four assists per game, bouncing between the first and second team.
However, if the Grizzlies continue to play awful, Evans could be a very intriguing player on the trade market for many teams, hopefully Portland included.
Again, moving Turner or Leonard would be the perfect scenario, but more picks and guards like Napier or Connaughton would be Memphis’ first requests, putting the Blazers in a bind.
As for Bazemore – he is key for the Atlanta Hawks the past three seasons.
He’s an energy guy and would fit as the wing defender and slasher off the bench for Portland. Bazemore might even wriggle into the starting lineup.
This year, Bazemore is averaging 12 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game for the Hawks, who are in full rebuild mode.
The biggest problem with Kent Bazemore though is his contract. It’s the same one Turner signed with Portland and still has three years remaining. Each year carries a cap hit averaging out to just below $18 million.
Giving up Turner would be a must, with picks and hopefully another bad contract.
The market is scarce currently, but Olshey could work his magic to find Portland the missing piece at sixth man.