I made a post a month or two ago where I thought Meyers' biggest problem is he's TOO coachable - meaning he focuses totally on the last thing the coaches told him, to the exclusion of other things he's capable of doing.
After the MEM series, he was labeled a stretch-4 who can spread the floor with his 3-point shooting. So, at the beginning of last season ALL he did was camp out at the 3-point line and hoist shots. Against SAC, someone told him he needed to bang with Boogie and get in his head, and that's exactly what he did. If you go back to last April, in the make up game against BRK, when Aldridge and Kaman didn't make the trip, someone must have told Meyers he needs to step up, score in the paint and rebound to make up for their absence.
He's capable of doing all of these things. He has a great shooting touch from anywhere on the court, he actually has some excellent low post foot work - on the rare occasions he actually tries to post up, he can be a dominant rebounder, especially on the defensive end, when he focuses on it and he can also be a very strong low post defender against the likes of Marc Gasol, Deandre Jordan and Boogie Cousins.
He can do all of these things well, but the problem is he hasn't been able to put them all together. He needs to stop thinking of himself in a specific role and just start thinking of himself as a basketball player who can do multiple things to help his team. He needs to learn to recognize mismatches and exploit them - if he's being guarded by a big center like Gasol or Jordan, draw them out of the paint with his 3-point shooting. If he has a smaller PF on him, like Thaddeus Young, get your ass down on the low block and punish him with your size. Same thing on the pick and roll. If they trap Dame or C.J. or switch and you end up with a guard on you, dive to the basket and exploit that mismatch.
Meyers is still pretty young and a few years away from entering his prime. As others have noted, he has improved specific individual skills and the way he spaces the floor does benefit the team by creating openings for his teammates. He just needs to put it all together and stop over-thinking his role. I don't want to overpay him, but I also don't want to lose him for nothing. Neil and the coaches know him way better than anyone here. They know what he works on in practice and the off season. They know his strengths and weaknesses. He's no longer a total unknown. I'm sure they'll take that all into consideration, along with any offer sheet he may be offered and make the best decision for the team.
BNM
