Portland Trail Blazers: 3 long-term takeaways from the Blazers’ preseason play

No. 3: Lineups that aren’t likely to mesh well together

It’s sort of a blessing in disguise that the Portland Trail Blazers were embarrassed the way they were on consecutive occasions against the Denver Nuggets. In Mike Malone’s system, a steady dose of their offense comes through pick-and-roll situations with their bigs (only seven teams scored more with their roll man than Denver in 2019-20).

They unveiled everything but the kitchen sink, from pick-and-pops with Paul Millsap to empty corner ball-screens with Jamal Murray. And that gave Portland ample time to work through their new coverages. We saw hard hedges, switches, fighting over screens, you name it.

We also saw which players probably aren’t equipped to be working through those reads together.

There was a sequence midway through the Blazers-Nuggets game in which Denver essentially hunted Enes Kanter. They found some way to make him the central target on defense, either through putting him through screens or by putting him in situations where he should’ve provided help.

By my unofficial count, there were about five or six possessions consecutively where this was the case, and Denver feasted on above-the-break threes with Millsap.

Those matchups felt especially exploitable when Kanter shared the floor with Carmelo Anthony.

Don’t take this as an indictment. I appreciate Kanter’s change-of-pace ability as an offensive player, and those who know me know there’s no bigger supporter of Anthony than myself. Both will play key roles this season, Anthony of which, garnering my pick as the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year winner.

But if the Portland Trail Blazers want to get the most out of their defense, it likely comes with one of them playing while the other contributes from afar. On the sidelines.

Without digging too deeply into it, lineups with Anthony and Giles could be tons of fun for the second unit, assuming Stotts plans to endorse Giles in the regular season and reward him with more time. He’s got the lateral quickness needed among the perimeter, and the passing to open his game more than Kanter would.

Portland Trail Blazers announcer Lamar Hurd shed light on a column from Oregon Live’s Aaron Fentress about Anthony’s shot attempts being similar to that of his time in New York, which leads one to believe that he’s going to be the priority for that second unit.

In my eyes, there’s a world in which he can be the most feared offensive player among the NBA’s second units, especially if officials give him the benefit of a whistle every now and then.

But you don’t want to be giving up as many points as you’re scoring. Rationing scorers with stoppers to create a healthy mix feels like a must going forward.