2 — Will the Trail Blazers find any new rotation pieces before the scrimmage?
In a vacuum, three scrimmage games with no bearing on the actual standings don’t appear to be of much importance. But in both the short-term and the long-term, it could mean a ton for the Portland Trail Blazers’ future.
The Blazers have watched and stood pat as notable names — think Justin Anderson, J.R. Smith, or Trey Burke — have signed with other teams, and there hasn’t been much external dialogue about them going after someone like Jamal Crawford, Iman Shumpert or Lance Stephenson. And Terry Stotts made a point that they seemed self-assured in what they had on the roster already.
During the scrimmage games, the Blazers are probably a sure bet to work Lillard and McCollum out of any rust. Still, beyond that, I’d imagine there’s ample playing time among the likes of Nassir Little, Wenyen Gabriel, and Jaylen Adams, among others.
For Moses Brown and Jaylen Hoard, there’s probably slim pickings for them, if the last few games before the stoppage are any indication. So, those three mentioned above are the most intriguing.
Here’s something to remember: in the regular season, it’s commonplace to stagger the minutes of Lillard and McCollum, but in the Playoffs, that hasn’t been the case. In keeping his stars rested, could Stotts look to Adams in the scrimmage games?
And since the Blazers aren’t likely to sign an actual replacement for Trevor Ariza, one has to think that it could mean elevated roles for Trent Jr., and maybe even Little or Gabriel. Both dealt with inconsistent playing time before the stoppage.
Gabriel has always been of intrigue, given his size and athleticism. Inside the arc, opponents are shooting 5.1 percent worse when defended by him, and he brings the “dog” mentality that the Blazers haven’t had much of this season. But, he wasn’t mentioned by Stotts in the Zoom conference — only Little and Mario Hezonja.
Little compounds that; they shoot 3.5 percent worse against him, and he’s had success in guarding players like Pascal Siakam and Kyle Kuzma this season.
And if that does turn out to be the case, the Blazers’ can check a long-term box off the list. The cap minutia is speculative to this point, but we do know there will be a decrease in the salary cap.
The more value the Blazers can coax from the players they already have, the better. If one of these players performs well in the scrimmage, does Stotts trust them in more important games? This could be something to keep eyes on.