Well, things didn’t exactly go our way this offseason. While it is still early in the process, the hammer stroke fell when LaMarcus opted to pursue greatness with the legendary San Antonio Spurs. Losing 4/5 of last year’s starting line-up wasn’t great either. As I mentioned in my last post, Portland is in a process of transition. I wanted to write this piece to highlight the positives of the situation, and touch on some impressive development steps taken by both Meyers Leonard and C. J. McCollum at the end of this past season.
For one thing, we get a fresh start. As all Portland fans know, the team has gone through many reboot phases in the past. The passing of the “Jail Blazers” and the introduction of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge was a big transition. Having both those players now be gone from the roster signals that things have once again come full circle. With Damian Lillard being the only proven star left on the team, a window has opened up for fresh faces to emerge and showcase their talents.
Last season’s playoff series with the Grizzlies was terrible. Lets just be honest. We got whooped, handily. While Portland was basically hobbling into the series, it still was going to be a tall order for us to beat Memphis even if we were at full strength. While losing the series was a major letdown after the brief triumphs of last season’s dramatic victory against the Rockets, it did still show us a few things. Meyers Leonard and C. J. McCollum have game. They are legit. Season averages for both players were decent at best, things really picked up for both players towards the end of the season.
The biggest examples of the growth came in the Memphis series. C. J. McCollum averaged 6.8 ppg, 1 apg, and 1.2 rpg during the season, and those numbers jumped up to 17.0 ppg, .4 apg, 4 rpg in the Memphis series. While C. J. was pretty much forced to take a bigger role, it was still really nice for him to seize the moment. He closed out the series with a 33 point masterpiece against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Not only was he scoring, but he was doing it with a level of finesse and confidence that we had yet to see from the young man out of Lehigh.
Looking to Meyers Leonard, man can that guy shoot! I mean I won’t lie, I was very skeptical of Meyers as a player before this season. Looking awkward on the court at times, Meyers has really gained a lot of poise and assertiveness in the way he plays the game recently. When you are as tall as he is, the 3-point shot might not always make a lot of sense to some people. Boy has Meyers shown us that he has some serious touch out there. Someone grab an umbrella, this man makes it rain! Meyers Leonard shot 51% from the field, 42% from the arc, and 93.8% from the line last season. Pretty efficient numbers if you ask me. Even if his work is in a smaller volume than a lot of other talented players, it does showcase that the big man has talent and potential to be great.
For the regular season, Meyers averaged 5.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .3 bpg. While these numbers aren’t bad for the amount of time he was getting, we definitely saw him continue to take positive strides in the Memphis series and at the end of the season. For the playoffs, we saw Meyers average 7.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1 apg, .4 bpg. While these are small increases, I think we can all agree that Meyers has taken huge strides towards finding his place in the league. Playing the stretch-4 seems like a much more natural position for the athletic big man out of Illinois. Meyers was able to throw a wrinkle into the Memphis defensive scheme by pulling Marc Gasol out of the paint and knocking down 3-point jumpers.
Looking forward, I see these two young men as questions marks still. However, I have seen so much growth that I can’t help but to feel genuine excitement to see them both hopefully step into expanded roles next season. A smooth guard with a developing killer instinct and a freak athlete big man who can stretch the floor out to the arc are good things to have around. With both Gerald Henderson and Ed Davis posing competition for the starting jobs at these positions, it will be interesting to see who steps up. One thing I know is that we have two young talented players itching to take the next step towards greatness, and a new light is shining on our future.
Conor's Blog 