Power Forward of the Future

[Hobbesarable]

I'm still optimistic about Vonleh because I just think he lacks the maturity at his age to match up with the skills...I think he has skills and I think playing with a real center will help mold his game..

I like him defensively and he has one 1 year remaining on his rookie contract. The remainder of this season and next will be his chance to shine and show he's worth a new contract. I have hope for him.

 

[Minstrel]

Actually, I agree 100% and posted something similar a month or two ago. Whenever the Blazers have been good, we have had a physical, enforcer type at power forward who rebounded played defense and absolutely did not back down from anyone. First, it was Luke on the championship team, then Buck on the early 90s team and then Brian Grant on the late 90s teams. His playoff battles with Karl Malone were epic and the key to us getting by UTA and making the Conference Finals two years in a row. Grant/Malone was like a Lucas/Dawkins rematch.

So, who like that is available, either via trade or in the draft? I like Robert Williams' defense, and Caleb Swanigan's rebounding.

Derrick Favors is probably the ideal player in that "star roleplayer" power forward niche. Even with his offensive numbers way down this year due to his injury, his defense is still excellent. He would very much fit into that Buck Williams/Brian Grant profile of tough-as-nails defender and rebounder, with added offensive upside.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Do we give Vonleh the honeymoon period most of you gave John Holmes?

Not sure why you call Meyers Leonard John Holmes. You must know him a lot better than the rest of us.

Vonleh started more games in his first year here than Meyers has in 5 years. It's not like Vonleh hasn't been given a fair chance to show what he can do.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

I think a healthy Aminu next to Nurkic is going to be good.....Aminu is a better pf than Favors in my opinion...especially defensively..I like Chief's game paired with Nurk

I can't say I agree with that at all. Favors is much bigger, stronger, better at guarding power forwards and 2 years younger than Aminu. Aminu is more versatile. He can guard SFs and stretch 4s, but he can't guard that Aldridges, Griffins or other big power forwards like Favors can. I want a power forward with some size. We've seen what size can do at the center position. I want more of that. Again, I'm fine with Aminu off the bench, but I REALLY want an upgrade at starting PF.

BNM

 

[riverman]

I can't say I agree with that at all. Favors is much bigger, stronger, better at guarding power forwards and 2 years younger than Aminu. Aminu is more versatile. He can guard SFs and stretch 4s, but he can't guard that Aldridges, Griffins or other big power forwards like Favors can. I want a power forward with some size. We've seen what size can do at the center position. I want more of that. Again, I'm fine with Aminu off the bench, but I REALLY want an upgrade at starting PF.

BNM

The age is a plus...I think Aminu has an incredible wingspan for his height so it makes up for some size...Aminu is 26 and Favors is 25 though...only a year apart..favors has an inch and 25lbs on him though...he also makes over 11 mill on a four year deal but..having both would be pretty solid

 

[AFully22]

If you have Harkless/Turner, Favors, and Nurkic in your starting lineup then you can say goodbye to any spacing offensively. I get that you have to build around Dame and CJ's lack of defense but you also can't completely limit them offensively by playing them with three non shooters. Ima say it again, a realistic and intriguing option is Marvin Williams.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Not sure why you call Meyers Leonard John Holmes. You must know him a lot better than the rest of us.

Vonleh started more games in his first year here than Meyers has in 5 years. It's not like Vonleh hasn't been given a fair chance to show what he can do.

BNM

He's a big white stiff

 

[riverman]

I've never been that big of a fan of Favors...Marvin Williams is an interesting idea though

 

[Minstrel]

If you have Harkless/Turner, Favors, and Nurkic in your starting lineup then you can say goodbye to any spacing offensively. I get that you have to build around Dame and CJ's lack of defense but you also can't completely limit them offensively by playing them with three non shooters. Ima say it again, a realistic and intriguing option is Marvin Williams.

I said in the offseason that Marvin Williams would be a fantastic addition (I also wanted Millsap, as a pie-in-the-sky possibility, but Williams was the budget version). That was when the idea was to improve a team that might be a dark horse. Now, though, I think he's probably a bit too old to be power forward of the future--it also appears that his three-point proficiency of last year was a but flukish, like Aminu, though he's still hovering near average. As a short-term bridge, he wouldn't be bad.

 

[riverman]

I really think they'll target somebody young to push Vonleh for a spot...probably a draft pick guy. I don't see Olshey bringing in anybody older than Chief at 26

 

[Mediocre Man]

Not sure why you call Meyers Leonard John Holmes. You must know him a lot better than the rest of us.

Vonleh started more games in his first year here than Meyers has in 5 years. It's not like Vonleh hasn't been given a fair chance to show what he can do.

BNM

I don't disagree, I just know I was told by you and others that it takes longer for bigs to develop. Vonleh is 3 and a half years younger than Leonar_. Most of the forum were still Beliebers this last offseason. Time is time

 

[MickZagger]

Things will change a lot from now until draft time. But, Bam Adebayo intrigues me a lot. Pair him next to Nurkic and you have the toughest, strongest front court in the NBA.

 

[Rhal]

I like the idea of Favors. He has knee issues so there is that to worry about
Farried might be a good idea this summer if we can figure out how to get him under a decent sized contract.
Jabari Parker might be had since this is his second ACL tear in 3 years.

 

[MickZagger]

 

[riverman]

I really wouldn't be surprised to see Olshey try to get Blake Griffin especially if the Clips don't get far this playoffs..

 

[tester551]

I like Markkanen a lot. The reason Meyers (and Crabbe for that matter) isn't much of an impact shooter is because he isn't comfortable shooting with a hand in his face and doesn't have the ability to attack close-outs. Markkanen can do both, which makes him a "complete shooter," a term I'm using to mean someone who can not only shoot but has the ancillary skillset to leverage that shooting against live defense. The question is whether he can play enough defense to hold his own. At worst, he's probably a prime Ryan Anderson. The best case is that he has more of a Kevin Love impact on offense and develops the defensive awareness to navigate pick-and-rolls even if he doesn't bring much rim protection. He has the quickness and agility to play in space defensively.

I think he'll go in the 5-10 range, so he might drop to Portland. I wouldn't be averse to Portland using one or both of their other first-rounders to move up a bit to get him, if they like his chances on defense.

I don't like Markkenan with a pick in the top 20. He's the PF version of Crabbe. Above average to elite shooter, that brings absolutely nothing else to the table.

 

[AFully22]

I said in the offseason that Marvin Williams would be a fantastic addition (I also wanted Millsap, as a pie-in-the-sky possibility, but Williams was the budget version). That was when the idea was to improve a team that might be a dark horse. Now, though, I think he's probably a bit too old to be power forward of the future--it also appears that his three-point proficiency of last year was a but flukish, like Aminu, though he's still hovering near average. As a short-term bridge, he wouldn't be bad.

I see where your coming from. It's my belief that at this point in Dame and CJ's career, it's more risky to invest in a young player hoping they turn into a stud during the duos prime. If you go that route and whiff you are now looking at the possibility of wasting Dame and CJ's prime years on an experimental player that never panned out. In which case we would be in store for another blow up and rebuild.

If you go for a player in the 29-32 yr old range you generally know exactly what you are getting and what you will be paying. In best case scenario you can get a player who fits that role well for 3-4 years as you groom their replacement. The ugly truth is that the time to find players to "build" with our center pieces is coming dangerously close to being over. #MarvinWilliams2PDX

 

[Minstrel]

I don't like Markkenan with a pick in the top 20. He's the PF version of Crabbe. Above average to elite shooter, that brings absolutely nothing else to the table.

I addressed why I feel he's different from Crabbe and Meyers. He's capable of shooting with a hand in his face and he has the ability to attack close-outs by driving past them. So I disagree that he doesn't have any other skill. Whether he'll be able to hold his own defensively is certainly a concern, but he does have the agility and lateral quickness to defend out to the perimeter (against other mobile big men) so a lot will come down to whether he has the defensive awareness to understand and navigate multiple screen actions.

 

[Minstrel]

I see where your coming from. It's my belief that at this point in Dame and CJ's career, it's more risky to invest in a young player hoping they turn into a stud during the duos prime. If you go that route and whiff you are now looking at the possibility of wasting Dame and CJ's prime years on an experimental player that never panned out. In which case we would be in store for another blow up and rebuild.

If you go for a player in the 29-32 yr old range you generally know exactly what you are getting and what you will be paying. In best case scenario you can get a player who fits that role well for 3-4 years as you groom their replacement. The ugly truth is that the time to find players to "build" with our center pieces is coming dangerously close to being over. #MarvinWilliams2PDX

There's definitely a lot of legitimacy to that. As I said, I wouldn't mind him as a veteran option (though he's not shooting the three much better than Harkless, a guy you identified as a space-killer, and that's more in line with his career averages than last year's performance was). But I think they still need to find a younger player who has the chance to develop into something special. Because if you're surrounding Lillard and McCollum with an okay-not-great option at small forward, power forward and center, that probably doesn't get you anywhere near contention--even if Nurkic proves to be a very good center, rather than merely okay.

You have to balance "too young to help the Lillard/McCollum window" with "too proven to have any upside" because proven stars are unlikely to be available in free agency or trades (unless Portland sends out a star in return).

 

[AFully22]

My favorite scenario is we somehow move up to snag Jayson Tatum and trade for a veteran at the 4. Tatum has the type of game that doesn't take long to translate to the NBA. I also feel the presence of Chris Kaman last year was understated. A veteran in the locker room is always a key part of any championship team. The spurs have had conference contending teams for 5 years with veterans in almost every position, kawhi being the outlier and his personality is more of a veteran then a 26 yr old.

 

[AFully22]

There's definitely a lot of legitimacy to that. As I said, I wouldn't mind him as a veteran option (though he's not shooting the three much better than Harkless, a guy you identified as a space-killer, and that's more in line with his career averages than last year's performance was). But I think they still need to find a younger player who has the chance to develop into something special. Because if you're surrounding Lillard and McCollum with an okay-not-great option at small forward, power forward and center, that probably doesn't get you anywhere near contention--even if Nurkic proves to be a very good center, rather than merely okay.

You have to balance "too young to help the Lillard/McCollum window" with "too proven to have any upside" because proven stars are unlikely to be available in free agency or trades (unless Portland sends out a star in return).

I agree with most of this. It's a delicate time frame NO is working with and balance will be key. I do disagree that Harkless and Williams are similar players when it comes to spacing. Harkless is a career 31% 3 pt shooter and Williams is a career 35% 3 pt shooter. Williams has three straight years of shooting 35% or over and in that span shot 40% one of those years. In comparison that is better then Dame has shot from three in all three of those years. Obviously 3 pt shooting isn't the only factor when considering spacing but it's a major part of it.

I think I've gave my 2 cents. I'll quit before people start thinking I have a raging clue for Marvin Williams.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Lauri Markkanen. After my Koponen disappointment I'm determined to get a Finnish Blazer.

 

[Minstrel]

I think I've gave my 2 cents. I'll quit before people start thinking I have a raging clue for Marvin Williams.

I was advocating for Williams quite a bit in the off-season, so I wouldn't worry about focusing too much on a player!

Just to clarify: I wasn't saying that Harkless should be considered as reliable a shooter as Williams, just that Williams' shooting should be kept in perspective a bit. Last year's performance was a-ways over his established level and, this year, he's actually a bit behind Harkless. To be fair, Harkless' performance this year is well above his established level (and used to be even higher before a hellacious slump in January) so it could be a fluke year for him. On the other other hand, Harkless is a lot younger, so there is the chance that he's simply improving.

That said, I trust Williams as a shooter more, but I'm a little cooler on him now that his gains of last year don't appear to have been consolidated. But he's still a solid shooter, solid defender and solid rebounder and fits very nicely into a lot of different lineup types.

 

[tester551]

Lauri Markkanen. After my Koponen disappointment I'm determined to get a Finnish Blazer.

Out of all those 'highlights', there was only one clip that impressed me (the dibble drive from the left wing into the paint).
He's a terrible rebounder & gets blocked by guys 6-8 inches shorter than him.

 

[PDXFonz]

Lauri Markkanen. After my Koponen disappointment I'm determined to get a Finnish Blazer.

Looks far from NBA ready... Which is something that I think will be a big factor in determining who we draft.

Hartenstein looks more NBA ready, plus he was born in Eugene so we wouldn't have to worry about Stoudamires law.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Kyle O'Quinn. 27 next month. 6'10", 250, 20 PER this year, still only getting 15mpg.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Kyle O'Quinn. 27 next month. 6'10", 250, 20 PER this year, still only getting 15mpg.

I like that idea. And was reportedly available at the deadline (not for cheap though).

 

[Wizard Mentor]

Here's what we need, a PF that...
Can Shoot
Can Rebound
Can defend the paint
Can Guard players out on the perimeter
Doesn't make much.

Tough/Impossible to get everything, but the last is pretty important because of our salary situation. That's why there's a lot of interest in rookies.

 

[WillG]

Not enamored with Bam. Think he is projected to go too high.

Has a Vonleh body but with less agility, reach and skill.
Perhaps has a better motor than Noah, but he wont be able to rely on out-muscling opponents in the NBA.

 

[MickZagger]

Not enamored with Bam. Think he is projected to go too high.

Has a Vonleh body but with less agility, reach and skill.
Perhaps has a better motor than Noah, but he wont be able to rely on out-muscling opponents in the NBA.

Why not? I have a feeling his combine strength numbers are going to be insane. He reminds me of a young Ben Wallace. Then again, PF is such a tough position to translate to the NBA. A lot of people, myself included, thought Thomas Robinson was going to be a beast.