Analyzing how Kent Bazemore can help the Portland Trail Blazers in 2019-20.
In case you had not heard, the Portland Trail Blazers traded Evan Turner to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kent Bazemore earlier today. While the Blazers will miss Turner on and especially off the court, Bazemore provides a much more versatile arsenal of skills on both ends of the floor.
The biggest issue with Turner was his contract situation. While he was a fine rotational player, his contract was just not justifiable for his on court production. He did a fine job as a versatile defensive player and as a secondary ball handler, but it was very hard to keep Turner on the court alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum due to his completely abysmal shooting numbers.
Unfortunately, Bazemore doesn’t really help Portland’s cap situation. Also a recipient of a 4 year $70 million contract in 2016, Bazemore’s salary is around $600,000 greater than Turner. As it also has just one year remaining, it makes the financial aspect of the deal essentially a wash.
On the court, Bazemore is a solid 3 and D wing, something that NBA teams can never have enough of. Despite only having a career 35.2% three point percentage, Bazemore’s percentage rose to 36.4% on average during his first four years with the Hawks. He is a good enough shooter where opposing teams can’t leave him open, something that Portland has lacked in the past.
Bazemore is also a solid defender. While win shares is not the end all measurement to defensive value, Bazemore has 13 defensive win shares compared to -2 on the offensive end. During his time in Atlanta, he averaged just over 1.3 steals per game.
The only issue for Bazemore is his size. At 6-foot-5, he is definitely more of a shooting guard than small forward. And with Portland’s backcourt already being undersized, having three players under 6-foot-6 might make it tough as the NBA is trending towards a more size heavy league on the perimeter.
Overall, Bazemore should benefit Portland over the course of the next season. He is probably one of the better insurance policies that the Blazers could have gotten on the chance that any of Rodney Hood, Jake Layman, and Al-Farouq Aminu leave. And just like Turner, Bazemore is a great locker room guy, so he should fit in seamlessly with all of the other high character players that Portland possess.
Portland needs to take some risks if it wants to keep up with the rest of the Western Conference, and although some players are sad to see Turner go, it should be all for the better in the end.