Leonard’s toilets: where he needs to improve
While he is an accurate shooter, other facets of his production undoubtedly need work. These are the toilets of Meyers Leonard’s game.
One of the biggest ones is rebounding. Among the 69 players who were six-foot-eleven or taller and played more than ten minutes per game in 2016-17, Leonard ranked 63rd in rebounds per game (3.2).
At seven-foot-one, he must become a bigger threat on the boards, especially with Ed Davis gone. While he does spend a lot of his time around the perimeter, his low numbers on the glass remain inexcusable. In that same season, guys like Channing Frye (3.9), Bobby Portis (4.6), and Kelly Olynyk (4.8) grabbed more rebounds than him in similar roles with similar minutes.
Against Toronto, Leonard looked uninterested in going for boards. He ended with zero rebounds for the game. This could just be a symptom of preseason basketball, but with his track-record, I’d like to see him hustling regardless of the stakes.
Against Phoenix, he looked more interested – even jumping in once to tap a ball back to a perimeter player. He ended the game with three boards altogether in 11.6 minutes. This is more where I’d like Leonard to be – a guy who grabs four-to-five boards in 18 or so minutes per game.
The other toilet is defense and rim-protection. Leonard is not a bad defender, but he should work to use his length and strength to be a bigger threat to opponents around the basket and on close-outs.
In 2016-17, opponents actually shot one percentage point better when Leonard defended them. What’s promising, however, is that he dropped opponents’ field goal percentage by 4.6 points when defending within six feet of the rim that season. While this number is a far cry away from someone like Rudy Gobert (-14.4) or even Alex Len (-8.8), it’s a good start for someone who is rarely talked about for their interior defense.
Last season, Ed Davis dropped opponents’ field goal percentage by six points within six feet of the basket. To become a solid backup center who will keep Portland’s defense in the top ten, Leonard will need to do his best Davis impression – something he may be more capable of than we think, especially since the guy got absolutely jacked this summer.