Kind of reminds me of Aldridge's rookie year where he sat for most of the season behind Former All Star Jamal Magloire. That drove me nuts at the time, and in hindsight seems absurd. Had our dumbass coach been willing to start LMA at C the course of our franchise might be quite different. Aldridge, coming off DPOY in college, might have been molded into a center to play beside Randolph. Had that dynamic shown promise, maybe we keep Z-bo and build from there. It probably wouldn't have worked, but we'll never know for sure, will we?
Anyway, LMA played 17 mpg through his first 23 games, to Leonard's 16 mpg so far over 30 games. LMA would average 22mpg the whole season, as we went into tank mode toward the end and his minutes went up.
Benching Leonard doesn't frustrate me nearly as much as benching LMA. I'd say the big difference is roster, pedigree and production.
Roster: Hickson is a better center than Magloire. Joke about his stat-padding, but at least with Hickson there are some stats. Magloire was hot garbage. There aren't the big roster questions of whether Leonard or Hickson fits long-term like there were with z-bo.
Pedigree: Aldridge went from the best player on a college team to getting drafted #2. Leonard was drafted much lower, wasn't a real standout in college, and just has a lot of learning to do.
Production: LMA had a PER of 17 his rookie year, while Leonard is at 13. When you factor in defense, the comparison gets even worse.
If it comes to the point where Portland is out of the debate for the 8th seed, I can see them starting Leonard to see what he's got. But for now I think you stay the course.
