The Portland Trail Blazers had an exciting frontcourt duo last season consisting of star forward LaMarcus Aldridge and center J.J Hickson. Although he was a bit undersized at 6’9″ and primarily used his body to excel in the post, Hickson became quite the talent to watch throughout the year as the Blazers made their push for the playoffs. After he signed with the Denver Nuggets this offseason, however, Portland became involved in a three-team trade with the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans that landed them center Robin Lopez.
Lopez is a much larger player and a true center, but does he make the Trail Blazers necessarily better?
Both Lopez and Hickson are five-year players from the 2008 draft class that have been with multiple teams in their short careers.
Robin Lopez (right) had his best offensive season last year with New Orleans, but still lacked crucial skills for a center. Photo Credit: Mark Allison, Flickr.com
Lopez, who began his career with the Phoenix Suns, had his best statistical season last year with the New Orleans Hornets playing alongside rookie Anthony Davis. Averaging 11.3 points and 1.6 blocks per game, he wasn’t a top-notch center in the league by any means, but at the same time he didn’t hurt the team any more than Austin Rivers‘ horrific rookie season or their stockpile of injuries.
Hickson, on the other hand, proved to be one missing piece that just landed in Portland’s hands last season. Starting 80 games for the Trail Blazers, Hickson averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 56.2 percent from the field. He was one of the most active, aggressive and reliable players for Portland that primarily succeeded in cleaning up missed shots and broken plays from rookie Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge. Making it a priority to crash the boards and connect on his offensive opportunities (9.3 shot attempts per game), Hickson made the Trail Blazers’ frontcourt one of the best in terms of energy and production.
Leaving Portland and signing with Denver, Hickson will likely revert to playing more of the power forward role that he enjoyed in his years with Cleveland.
Robin Lopez, who seems excited with his new team, will need to improve drastically if he hopes to give Portland as much of a presence that Hickson did in 2012-13. If production from last season indicates what we are in store for with Lopez, his rebounding activity won’t be popular with the fans next season. A 7′ center that started all 82 games and played 26 minutes per game last season is highly expected to grab more than 5.6 rebounds a night.
What did Hickson do on the glass with similar playing time? Playing 29 minutes per game and starting all the games he played, he managed to average 10.4 rebounds per game. At the end of the day, it all comes down to who is the more active player and who is capable of using his size in the post. In all aspects from what we have seen, Hickson playing out of his natural position with Portland was better, filled with higher energy and more efficient than Lopez has been in his career.
Defensively, Lopez may have the edge on Hickson. Lopez has made it his priority heading into this season to improve Portland’s 21st ranking in points allowed from last year. “My biggest focus is being that last line of defense,” he said. “Blocking shots, discouraging plays at the rim, deterring drives to the basket. I’m here to play defense.”
Not a prolific shot blocker, Hickson made his impact in the paint in ways that Lopez won’t be able to replace. As far as how well Lopez can help Portland on the defensive side of the ball, Portland must be betting on him becoming one of the best defensive players in the conference. Because he certainly hasn’t shown he can rebound like a 7-footer should.
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