The Portland Trail Blazers have now played two games with mixed results. What questions still need answering in regards to the rotation?
After a loss to the Denver Nuggets and a win over the Sacramento Kings the Portland Trail Blazers have a few work on’s in their regular season rotation. There have been positives in the two games so far but they still need to iron out the following kinks.
Small forward
Small forward is a position of relative strength, but the starter / bench mix doesn’t seem to be working currently. Defensively, the trio of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Rodney Hood isn’t doing the business at the point of attack. Though none of this trio are bad defenders you don’t have a premium stopper in this three. By bringing Kent Bazemore into the starting line-up they have someone who is élite at forcing turnovers. With five steals in the first game, Bazemore showed his defensive quality, while we already know he is a great spot up shooter, especially from the corners.
Secondary ball handlers
The secondary ball handlers are still unclear at this point in time outside of Anfernee Simons. Being able to create for others and break down the defense will be of importance on the second unit. Though staggering Lillard and McCollum’s minutes may seem like a good idea, they will still have to play the majority of their minutes together. Simons is the only true combo guard who has got minutes outside of Lillard and McCollum in the first two games. Though Bazemore can play some two guard if he ends up in the starting lineup the bench will lack ball handling. If Rodney Hood plays some two guard in the second unit he can potentially run the offense with Mario Hezonja. Hezonja showed play making touch in the preseason but has yet to exhibit this in the regular season
Big man depth
With Jusuf Nurkic not returning till the new year, much relies on Zach Collins and Hassan Whiteside. Collins is still young, and though he may well breakout this year, he isn’t ready for 35 plus minutes a night. Pau Gasol was signed on the minimum but at age 40 it would be tough to envisage him playing any meaningful minutes, Skal Labissiere has shown some improvement on both ends but will need to be a difference maker on defense as his inability to shoot the three could shrink the floor on the second unit.
All three of the problems listed above can be remedied by a young player standing up. Nassir Little and Gary Trent Jr haven’t been sighted in the first two games outside of garbage time but could provide solutions to the small forward and guard rotations questions. Though there isn’t a need to press the panic button yet, its important that they work through the smaller issues to ensure another successful regular season.