Portland came into the season with such high hopes after last season’s Western Conference
Finals finish.
They have arguably the best back court in the league with Lillard and McCollum running the
show, but they lost a whole lot of depth in the off season.
Evan Turner was a big contributor off the bench for Portland, but made the move to Atlanta.
Seth Curry gave them instant offence, but Dallas came calling again and he packed his bags.
Mo Harkless was also a very serviceable defender (almost a glue guy) in their starting unit
last season, before he made his way to the Clippers.
Then there’s Meyers Leonard who was huge for the Blazers in the 2019 playoffs, not only for
his big showing in the against the Warriors conference finals, but even more so in the series
against Denver, giving Jokic all kinds of problems on the defensive end of the floor.
His loss is even bigger this season, with the long-term injury to Zach Collins, providing
minutes that Leonard would have flourished in. Instead he’s enjoying some winning
basketball in Miami while his former team mates haven’t found their way yet this season.
It almost seems like Portland wanted to fix some of the cracks they had losing these key
guys, by just picking up anyone. And it hasn’t worked in the first few weeks.
The addition of Hassan Whiteside raised some eyebrows, but seemed a quick fix while
Nurkic recovered from his gruesome injury. He has performed better than most thought,
averaging a double double, but he’s no Jusuf Nurkic.
Adding Mario Hezonja and Kent Bazemore to the mix to fill the gap that has been left from
the departure of Turner and Harkless, clearly hasn’t hit the mark.
This next name may seem controversial, but Portland need someone who’s patiently waiting
on the outside looking in. Carmelo Anthony.
Melo had been rumoured to go to Portland for a number of years, but it always seemed to
get shut down. Given his age, time is running out for Anthony to contribute to a team, but
this just seems like the right situation for him.
He doesn’t need to give them starter minutes, but he can comfortably come off the bench
for this team and just give them something they so desperately need. Experience.
They’re still a very young unit, and for this team to get going this season, a new addition
wouldn’t hurt. You don’t want to waste the best years of this back court. Those two guys are
too good to be running around on a 4-8 team.
Something needs to change in Rip City and a call to Melo may need to be made to shake
things up!
Bauky
Finals finish.
They have arguably the best back court in the league with Lillard and McCollum running the
show, but they lost a whole lot of depth in the off season.
Evan Turner was a big contributor off the bench for Portland, but made the move to Atlanta.
Seth Curry gave them instant offence, but Dallas came calling again and he packed his bags.
Mo Harkless was also a very serviceable defender (almost a glue guy) in their starting unit
last season, before he made his way to the Clippers.
Then there’s Meyers Leonard who was huge for the Blazers in the 2019 playoffs, not only for
his big showing in the against the Warriors conference finals, but even more so in the series
against Denver, giving Jokic all kinds of problems on the defensive end of the floor.
His loss is even bigger this season, with the long-term injury to Zach Collins, providing
minutes that Leonard would have flourished in. Instead he’s enjoying some winning
basketball in Miami while his former team mates haven’t found their way yet this season.
It almost seems like Portland wanted to fix some of the cracks they had losing these key
guys, by just picking up anyone. And it hasn’t worked in the first few weeks.
The addition of Hassan Whiteside raised some eyebrows, but seemed a quick fix while
Nurkic recovered from his gruesome injury. He has performed better than most thought,
averaging a double double, but he’s no Jusuf Nurkic.
Adding Mario Hezonja and Kent Bazemore to the mix to fill the gap that has been left from
the departure of Turner and Harkless, clearly hasn’t hit the mark.
This next name may seem controversial, but Portland need someone who’s patiently waiting
on the outside looking in. Carmelo Anthony.
Melo had been rumoured to go to Portland for a number of years, but it always seemed to
get shut down. Given his age, time is running out for Anthony to contribute to a team, but
this just seems like the right situation for him.
He doesn’t need to give them starter minutes, but he can comfortably come off the bench
for this team and just give them something they so desperately need. Experience.
They’re still a very young unit, and for this team to get going this season, a new addition
wouldn’t hurt. You don’t want to waste the best years of this back court. Those two guys are
too good to be running around on a 4-8 team.
Something needs to change in Rip City and a call to Melo may need to be made to shake
things up!
Bauky