Rip City Project
Fansided

Who should join Zach Collins in the Blazers reserve frontcourt?

By Nate Mann

PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 30: Ed Davis #17 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Zach Collins #33 of the Portland Trail Blazers look on before the game against the Toronto Raptors on October 30, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 30: Ed Davis #17 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Zach Collins #33 of the Portland Trail Blazers look on before the game against the Toronto Raptors on October 30, 2017 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 2
Next
Ed Davis and the Portland Trail Blazers
PORTLAND, OR – MARCH 9: Ed Davis /

Losing Ed Davis left a hole in the Blazers bench rotation. Who will join Zach Collins as the other reserve big man?

The Portland Trail Blazers allowed, actually encouraged, Ed Davis to sign with the Brooklyn Nets on opening night of free agency. No new center took his place, leaving a hole in Terry Stotts’ go-to rotation.

Stotts and the organization have two options to choose from for their new reserve big men. Zach Collins will play either the four or five behind Jusuf Nurkic and Al-Farouq Aminu, but the other slot is up for grabs.

The two possible combinations are:

If neither work, the Blazers can stagger Aminu and Maurice Harkless like they do with the starting guards. That way, one is always on the court as the power forward and Collins gets pushed to backup center.

Collins & Leonard

Zach Collins and Meyers Leonard shared the court for 67 minutes last season, so their pairing is mostly uncharted territory. Based on the conflicting play styles, issues with this duo present themselves immediately.

Both big men spend a lot of time on the perimeter. With Davis in the paint, Collins hugging the three-point arc spaced the floor to Portland’s benefit last season. Leonard also has a tendency to float around the perimeter, but he’s generally the center and should be manning the paint instead.

In the Apr. 1 game versus the Memphis Grizzlies, Leonard and Collins ran the power forward and center position for about three minutes to close out the first quarter. Less than 30 seconds into their time together, Leonard set a screen for Shabazz Napier and failed to roll to the hoop. He and Collins were therefore both on the perimeter, allowing Grizzlies defenders to collapse on Napier and nearly force a turnover.

If the two can develop their chemistry and communication to ensure that one remains under the hoop while the other roams the perimeter, they can form a dangerous combination. Collins shot 31% from three as a rookie and Leonard (in the 2015-2016 season when he averaged 21.9 minutes per game) shot 37.7% from deep.

Neither percentage is remarkable, but they converted enough threes for opponents to honor them on the perimeter and stay relatively tight. This spaces the floor for Portland, something Neil Olshey wanted to focus on prior to the 2018-2019 season.

To develop this untested chemistry and optimize each one’s three-point shooting, Stotts should assign Leonard to more of a center role than he has had before. This means setting more screens, rolling on those screens, and collapsing hard for offensive and defensive rebounds.

At 7 feet 1 inch, 255 pounds, and one of the more toned bodies in the league, Leonard is a brick wall on screens. In addition to his height and frame, he can rise up for big slams and contested rebounds too. These are perfect traits for a center playing alongside someone like Collins, whose thin frame makes screening and boxing out less effective.

But as every Blazers fan knows, Leonard’s mentality holds his physicality back. Over his seven-year career, the big man has a pedestrian defensive rebounding percentage of 20.9%. (In comparison, Rudy Gobert has a defensive rebounding percentage of 28%.) Also, he threw down eight total dunks in 254 minutes of play last season, not enough for someone of his size and position.

So, for this pairing to work, Leonard needs to assume Davis’ center role. By clogging the paint, setting more screens, and grabbing rebounds, he enables Collins to continue his perimeter development and run the floor off an opponent’s miss.