Portland Trail Blazers: How many of the end-of-bench prospects are returning next year?

You had to have been somewhat of a diehard to have seen Jaylen Hoard play this past season; the French swingman played just 29 of his 106 minutes in games that were single-digits. But when he did play, the first things you probably noticed were his helicopter-propeller arms.

Hoard mixes a 6-foot-8 frame with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. Methinks the Portland Trail Blazers are hoping he approaches the Nicolas Batum-like stratosphere in the near future. On film, that wasn’t quite the case in Year One. Hoard was gritty and physical on-ball, but looked like he struggled to adjust to NBA screens and cat-and-mouse type pursuits on film.

Offensive players shot 9-of-19 for 28 points when defended by Hoard this season, the lowlight of which coming during Portland’s blowout loss in New Orleans. The Pelicans used E’Twaun Moore to attack him off screens. There, some of the tendencies came about: he looked a tad bit stiff defending them, and he has the propensity to spin around in circles when trying to recover after closeouts.

But, there was a lot to like, too. Portland has sorely lacked the “lunch pail,” players with a bit of nasty to their game, since losing Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless. Hoard has the potential to be that guy.

His nose for the ball jumps out on film, especially when attacking misses. Only 11 players in the NBA had a better offensive rebound percentage than Hoard (14.3%), and 10 of them are pure centers. Take this with a grain of salt: per 36 minutes, he snags 4.9 of them per game, a number that would rank No. 1 in the NBA.

If we were crafting a case for Hoard being a Portland Trail Blazer rotation piece in 2020-21, that would be one avenue. Portland ranks 28th in points in the paint, and 19th in second chance points. He always seems to be competing on the glass.

And while he hasn’t quite learned how to translate his size into becoming an elite defensive stopper or even become a serviceable shooter from deep, he’s still young enough that he feels worth the chance. He became the first one-and-done player in Wake Forest Demon Deacons history.

The Blazers seem to like his approach towards getting better. Part of me wishes Olshey didn’t give Hezonja a player-option, so that we could see potential over proven play. But, if I had to guess, I would imagine he has enough redeemable traits worth keeping around.