The Portland Trail Blazers need more production from Vit Krejci. He's had a rough start to the season, averaging just 1.8 points in 8.5 minutes per game. Most concerningly, Krejci is shooting just 14.3 percent from beyond the arc.
What's the former Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter on the roster for if not to shoot?
Krejci shot 40-plus percent his past three seasons in Atlanta. The Monstars must have taken his powers in Portland, or maybe the Pacific Northwest equivalent is Bigfoot. Let's go with that: somewhere in the woods, Bigfoot is shooting 40 percent from NBA range.
Bigfoot, comfort level, system, confidence, whatever the reason... Krejci hasn't been the same player ever since the Blazers traded for him at last year's deadline. He couldn't reliably space the floor in 19 games to finish the season with Portland, shooting 30.3 percent from deep.
Blazers can't rely on Vit Krejci to space the floor off the bench
We thought, given the three-year sample size in Atlanta, that we'd see closer to the Hawks version of Krejci after he had a full offseason to readjust to the trade to Portland. Unfortunately, early on that hasn't been the case, and in fact he's been far worse, to the point where he's been a liability.
Thursday's loss to the Memphis Grizzlies was a prime example of when the Blazers really could've used Krejci. Shooting was the biggest reason they lost 124-103, as Portland connected on just 12-of-49 (24 percent) from beyond the arc.
Typically, that's where Damian Lillard comes in and saves the day. We've already seen that be the case through the Blazers' hot 3-0 start. But as we said all offseason, to rely so heavily on a 36-year-old Lillard coming off a torn Achilles isn't a sustainable solution. You're not going to get the consistency you'd get from peak Lillard. He seemed to struggle with the length of the Grizzlies in this contest, as he unfortunately no longer has quite the same burst as he did in his prime.
With a shot that surprisingly wasn't falling either, ideally this would've been the scenario where Micah Nori could trust Krejci to fill in. At least Sidy Cissoko has looked significantly improved off the bench for Portland, but those are two different roles given their contrasting skill sets. They need Krejci's shooting, and if he can't turn things around by the deadline, Portland needs to reassess whether they even have a shooting option coming off the bench.
Blazers general manager Joe Cronin has won the vast majority of his trades, the Morant one being the latest example despite the injury. But this move on the margins, surrendering Krejci for two future second-round picks and center Duop Reath, didn't look promising to finish the season.
With things trending further in the wrong direction this season, Portland needs to keep an eye on Krejci and see whether they still need to address bench shooting externally.
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