Portland Trail Blazers: How many of the end-of-bench prospects are returning next year?
Jaylen Adams. 3. Pick Analysis. G. #10. player. 34. Scouting Report
Recently, our very own Stevie Cozens took a detailed look into three ways that Jaylen Adams could make this Portland Trail Blazers better. There’s a level of intrigue to that, but part of me wonders just how much we’ll see of that at the NBA bubble.
Per Jason Quick, Terry Stotts said that the reasoning behind signing Jaylen Adams was to provide an extra body during practices, and as an insurance policy if Lillard or McCollum fell to injury.
That’s hardly bankable; Lillard has played in 94.9 percent of the 658 possible games in his career, and since he’s become a rotation guarantee in 2015-16, McCollum’s been present for 94.9 percent of the 408 games.
So, we’d be wise to root for a Portland blowout if we’re trying to legitimately see what Adams offers as a Blazer.
It feels like a safe assessment to say that Adams fits the Blazer mold; he has experience in playing with a score-first guard in Frank Mason III, and excelled at some of the same things Portland’s star guards do — in transition, spot-ups and isolation settings.
Most Portland fans found an issue with redundancy in this signing; the Blazers didn’t necessarily need another score-first guard. In this case, it feels like Anfernee Simons holds most of the cards at the table. Simons’ 0.87 points per possession ranks in the 59th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball handler, in comparison to just the 34th percentile in spot-up situations.
He’s also quietly become one of the NBA’s best young isolation scorers. He’s one of just 74 players commanding at least one per game, and has more play-to-play success than players like Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray and Ja Morant.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying it may not be all that wise to turn him into an off-ball player. He’s still more Reggie Jackson than he is Reggie Miller, and the Blazers could be wise to treat it accordingly. Part of me hopes there’s some time for Adams to play, but not at the expense of Simons on-ball development.
Next. Portland Trail Blazers: The Key to the Golden Door. dark
If the situation does come, Adams has the skills to prove some of the Trail Blazers fans wrong. Should the opportunity arise, his scoring prowess probably gives him an edge towards making an NBA roster long term, regardless of whether that’s with the Portland Trail Blazers or not.