Five reactions to the Portland Trail Blazers Media Day

The Portland Trail Blazers’ Media Day has come and gone. Here are a few of my reactions to it.

Another Portland Trail Blazers’ Media Day is in the books. As I watched from afar, I had a few reactions to what I heard.

There seems to be a lack of urgency.

Throughout Neil Olshey’s, Terry Stott’s, and Damian Lillard‘s press conferences, they all seemed fine with running the team back and trying to get back to the point they were last year – a team that (surprisingly) pushed its way into a third seed.

Perhaps the most emblematic of this sort of fine-ness was when Olshey was asked where he thought they fit into the Western Conference. He replied, “In the crowd!”

As a team that just recently finished as a third-seed, and that Lillard promised wasn’t complacent, I felt the answer should’ve been “the top three.”

Neither Olshey or Stotts gave inspired answers when asked about how the New Orleans sweep in the first round effected them. Instead, they urged reporters to look at the whole season rather than just four games.

However, that “whole season” consisted of a timely 13-game winning streak that separated Portland from the bottom-seeded Timberwolves by only two wins. Though they played well, they were not clearly above the crop – and Olshey’s “in the crowd” answer only confirms this.

Meyers Leonard looks… good?!

During Lillard’s press conference, he said that Meyers Leonard was looking good this offseason. Every part of me hopes he is telling the truth, but my brain is telling me I shouldn’t believe it. That it’s just offseason excitement.

But could you imagine if Leonard came out this season playing “confident” and “challenging shots at the rim” like Dame says he is? Imagine a pair of seven-footers in him and Zach Collins that could both shoot and defend the interior. Now imagine them alongside Dame, CJ McCollum, and Seth Curry. That’s a high-powered lineup that could still stop opponents here and there.

A Meyers Leonard playing like the idea of himself could open up lots of fun lineups for Portland.

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When will Seth Curry re-find his rhythm?

After sitting out for an entire season due to a stress fracture in his left tibia, Seth Curry is finally ready to return.

When asked what suffers the most in missing the year, he said, “Probably just the rhythm. For the past month and a half I’ve had to play a lot of pickup.”

He went on to say that working out to get in shape and develop his skills was not the same as playing 5-on-5.

While Curry will get lots of practice in 5-on-5 scenarios in training camp, nothing can quite replicate the feel of a real regular season game. Hopefully Curry finds his legs quicker rather than later but don’t be surprised if it takes him 10-20 games to look like the Seth Curry of 2016-17. But so long as he keeps a confidence, he should return as an explosive offensive player.

And as far as I could tell, he seems confident. Talking about how he could help the team through his skillset, he said:

“That’s the beauty of my game, I can play on and off the ball… You can’t really help off me.”

There’s a battle for backup point guard.

When Stotts spoke at his interview, he said McCollum would play less backup point guard. However, he gave no definitive answer over who those minutes would go to.

He mentioned Curry, Stauskas, Wade Baldwin IV, and Evan Turner as all good ball handlers who will likely be given facilitator responsibilities. With Shabazz Napier gone, there is a wide open hole for a new player to fill and likely be given more responsibility than Napier was.

It will be intriguing to see how Stott’s manages the rotations throughout preseason and which guys seem to be on the shortlist of backup playmakers.

I’d bet that Curry wins this battle.

What type of lineups will Zach Collins play in?

Stotts gave a wishy-washy answer when asked who Zach Collins would play with. Last year, he played mostly with Ed Davis which showcased his mobility and versatility as a stretch four who could defend inside.

Who the Blazers choose to pair Collins this year will give lots of insight in how they intend on using him. No doubt, Collins will need to remain a staunch interior defender regardless of who he’s paired with, but if he is paired with someone like Meyers Leonard, we may see Collins gravitate away from his faceup game.

The Blazers used him more as a post-up threat in Summer League, so they may be trying to push him towards that direction. I worry this would be a misstep. Collins looked full of potential from beyond the arc, on the drive, and showed finesse when finishing around the rim.

If we do see Collins paired with Leonard, I hope it’s for an ultra-spacey lineup.

But more than that, I hope Collins is paired with Nurkic to see what they could do together. Along with Aminu playing the three, Portland’s frontcourt could be an absolute menace while the backcourt goes to work on the other end.

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