Despite a litany of injuries to their frontcourt rotation, the Portland Trail Blazers are expected to stick to their guns down low in the paint.
When so much goes wrong in the first couple weeks of the season, it can be easy to sound the alarms and make hasty decisions. Thankfully, the Portland Trail Blazers have decided to exercise a bit of caution before proceeding to make any major moves.
We are still just seven games into the 2019-20 season, and it would be rash to not give new additions Mario Hezonja and Anthony Tolliver time to step up and prove they can be the players Rip City needs them to be.
Jason Quick of the Athletic utilized his inside sources to report on the Trail Blazers’ hesitancy to make any radical changes so soon.
Don’t expect Blazers to sign another player in wake of Zach Collins surgery. Considering tax ramifications and what is out there, Blazers likely to be patient and wait for Pau Gasol to finish rehab. Gasol increasing work load, but no target date on return.
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) November 4, 2019
With Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic and Pau Gasol out due to injuries, the Blazers have had to be rather crafty in their rotational schemes to overcome these setbacks. As a proven veteran, Tolliver has been given ample opportunity to prove himself in the starting lineup, with little success thus far. He has averaged a meager 3.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this season, often getting bullied around for boards and abused in the paint by stronger forwards.
Even if Portland has no intentions to make a major acquisition, that does not mean they can’t still make adjustments. Running Hezonja with the starting lineup may be an experiment worth testing, as he brings a positive defensive and playmaking presence to the court.
Gasol could be an important x-factor moving forward. As Quick reported, he has no target date for a return back to action, but his experience and basketball IQ could prove instrumental in getting the most out of his teammates. While injuries have hampered his performance recently, Gasol was an All-Star as recently as 2016 and brings his Hall of Fame caliber bag of tools to the table with him.
Perhaps the most interesting option on the table lies with Skal Labissiere, who’s had a mild breakout with the Blazers early on here in the final year of his rookie scale contract. Skal has averaged 6.9 points and 4 rebounds (2.4 of which come on the offensive end) in just 13.6 minutes per game. Portland has been better on both ends whenever Skal is on the court; it may be time to bump his minutes up and insert a little more toughness into the rotation.
Now is no time to panic. The Portland Trail Blazers’ extra roster spot isn’t going anywhere. They still have enough assets necessary to make an impact trade. Waiting to see how things may develop is the wisest move to make, instead of counting their chickens before they hatch.