How Larry Nance Jr. will affect the Portland Trail Blazers rotation

Let’s take a look at the Portland Trail Blazers depth chart, and what their options are for the 14th roster spot

I expect the Portland Trail Blazers depth chart going into next season to look something like it does in the tweet above. All non-starters are listed alphabetically with the columns designating their positions. As I said earlier, the Blazers seem to be set on wings, and with one more roster spot still available, I think Portland should target some more depth at the point guard position.

One of the common knocks on Damian Lillard is that he’s a “scoring point guard” rather than one who elevates the level of the teammates around him, a debate I won’t get into today. However, I do believe Lillard is better utilized as a scorer than as a playmaker.

Currently, Anfernee Simons is the only player coming off the bench capable of playing at point guard and based on his play last year, I don’t believe he’s all that comfortable when tasked as the team’s primary ball-handler.

Last year, we saw the effect that undersized, low-cost point guards Mike James and Chris Chiozza had for the Brooklyn Nets during the regular season. Their quickness aided their ability to put pressure on the defense and play-make for others, allowing Brooklyn’s high-octane offense to keep humming when their primary ball-handlers, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, were not on the floor. Even a player like Facundo Campazzo of the Denver Nuggets, who isn’t really a scorer but has an incredible basketball IQ, really helped take the pressure off of the Denver Nuggets younger players who weren’t as comfortable handling the ball for extended periods of time.

The Blazers could be in the market for a similar, “espresso shot” type of player to fill out their roster ahead of the upcoming season. If Dame or CJ miss a game during the regular season, having a guard who can be relied upon to initiate the offense, take the pressure off of an inexperienced ball-handler in Simons, and drive-and-kick to Portland’s shooters could really come in handy. Additionally, it could even allow for the Blazers to get the most out of Anfernee Simons, who is an excellent spot-up shooter (51 percent per nba.com/stats), and is probably better off being utilized as a secondary or tertiary ball handler at this point in his career.