Kyle Anderson is the perfect sixth man for the Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers can unlock Kyle Anderson by featuring him as their floor general off the bench

Anderson’s biggest strength coming out of college was undoubtedly his playmaking. He served as UCLA’s point forward, averaging 6.5 assists per game in his sophomore season for the Bruins.

NBAdraft.net compared him to Jalen Rose and Lamar Odom in his scouting report.

At his size, Anderson is able to see the floor better than most point guards and his freakishly long arms can create passing angles that wouldn’t be there for other playmakers.

Watch how Slo Mo uses his pace and deceptive handle to manipulate this pick-and-roll with Jonas Valanciunas. He uses the screen to lose Delon Wright and then boxes out the trailing defender with his huge frame. As he slowly probes the paint, Richaun Holmes does a good job putting himself between Anderson and Valanciunas as he’s rolling to the rim. Anderson then uses his length to get Holmes vertical before wrapping a bounce pass around to Jonas for the easy two.

Not many players would be able to make that play without his combination of ball-handling and size.

Early in the 2020-2021 season, Ja Morant missed eight straight games with a left ankle sprain. In that period, Head Coach Taylor Jenkins turned to Slo Mo to step up to be the Grizzlies oversized, primary playmaker. Anderson responded by averaging 6.4 assists per 36-minutes, including two games with nine dimes.

Anderson would be the perfect floor general for the Blazers bench, surrounded by shooters in desperate need of a playmaker to find them open looks.

This trade would not only significantly upgrade Portland’s reserve unit, it would also add an additional playmaker to relieve Damian Lillard and allow him to find off-ball opportunities. Neil Olshey would be doing his team a huge favor by bringing in Slo Mo, but he could also be unlocking Anderson’s potential in the process.