TrueHoop’s Paul Mitchell Talks Mason Plumlee

Just a day after trading Nicolas Batum to the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers seemed to fill the new hole at small forward by selecting Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with the 23rd pick. But they promptly sent Hollis-Jefferson and backup point guard Steve Blake to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Mason Plumlee and Pat Connaughton (who has played very well in Summer League).

As I mentioned, this came just a day after the Blazers acquired Noah Vonleh in the Batum deal. They also went on to add Ed Davis in free agency and expect growth out of third-year player Meyers Leonard. The Blazers’ frontcourt has plenty of youth and athleticism, but it lacks experience as a group.

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Although Plumlee is entering his third NBA season this fall, he does have some experience both as a regular contributor to the Nets over the last two seasons and also internationally for Team USA. But what can Blazers fans expect out of the middle Plumlee brother?

I reached out to Paul Mitchell (@PaulMitchellNBA), one of the best writers at ESPN TrueHoop’s Brooklyn’s Finest blog, to get to know Mason:

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Chris St. Jean (HoopsHabit): Is Mason Plumlee a power forward or a center? Where does he fit best?

Paul Mitchell (Brooklyn’s Finest): Mason Plumlee is almost strictly a center. His limited skill set and reliance on athleticism renders him useless away from the basket on the offensive end, as he’s primarily a screen-and-roll big man who can’t offer much aid in the way of spacing. Plumlee’s quickness and agility allows him to contest shots out to the perimeter and also recover to protect the paint, and he excels in playing uptempo and in a spread pick-and-roll system or in an aggressive defensive scheme.

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As a result, lineups with Plumlee and Brook Lopez sharing a frontcourt were borderline unplayable as the season progressed, which didn’t exactly deter Nets head coach Lionel Hollins from playing the pair over 370 minutes together. Lopez’s emerging jumper helped them to coexist for stretches, but Plumlee’s athleticism-oriented game needs a true floor spacer with which to play alongside.

CSJ: Brook Lopez has gotten criticism in the past for not rebounding as much as other dominant big men, but a quick reference to the numbers shows that Lopez performed better than Plumlee in rebounds per game, percentage of rebounds per chance, and percentage of contested rebounds according to NBA.com. Is Plumlee an adequate rebounder? Is it one of his strengths?

PM: ‘Adequate’ is a great description of Mason Plumlee’s rebounding capabilities, as he’s not exactly as poor of a rebounder as the eye test would indicate, yet not as strong as some of his statistics show.

Despite standing a legitimate seven feet tall, Plum’s slight frame (listed at 238 lbs.) and relative lack of lower-body strength prevent him from being a better rebounder in traffic, and he’s more of a leaper who will swoop in for a board than a technical rebounder whose first instinct is to box out his opponent.

Plumlee’s rebounding numbers grade out rather well overall, with him ranking 31st in defensive rebounding percentage among all players who saw at least 20 minutes per game, and 18th in offensive rebounding percentage according to NBA.com. His success as a rebounder going forward will depend on him adding strength to improve his ability to collect contested rebounds, while still maintaining his activity on the offensive glass.

CSJ: Rim protection is notoriously difficult to quantify, but Plumlee doesn’t seem to rate well in blocks per game (0.8) or opponent field goal percentage at the rim (55.5 percent), according to NBA.com. What does Plumlee provide as a rim protector? Does he offer defensive upside? Does he contribute in any other ways defensively?

PM: He’s quite capable of making the highlight-level play on the defensive end, but in one-on-one situations Mason Plumlee can often look overmatched. As with his rebounding, he’ll rely on his physical abilities to make plays at the expense of good technique, but still exhibits some strong instincts and timing when bothering shots.

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I wrote him up back in December and collected a bunch of Vine clips of his shot-blocking prowess, to which the majority of them came of the weak-side or chase-down variety.

Plumlee’s energy and athleticism can be used against him while defending the post, where a competent scorer can goad him into leaving his feet through upfakes and advanced post moves. His lack of bulk causes him to cede deep post position to his opponents, and his 6’11” wingspan prevents him from bothering shots from a standstill position.

What he lacks in strength and length on the defensive end, he more than makes up for in agility and speed, where his quick feet allow him to step out to the three-point line while containing dribble penetration. Plumlee was one of 28 players last season to collect over 50 steals and 50 blocks according to NBA.com, joining the likes of Tim Duncan, Al Horford and Robin Lopez.

CSJ: Plumlee shot under 50 percent from the free throw line last season and 74 percent of his field goal attempts have come within three feet of the basket, according to Basketball-Reference. That’s concerning. Does Plumlee offer anything on the offensive end?

PM: Those Basketball-Reference numbers can’t even come close to describing the rigidity and awkwardness of a Mason Plumlee jump shot, either. I’ve watched my fair share of Nets contests last season — too many, in fact — and can count on one hand the number of Plumlee’s jumpers that he’s attempted in a game, which speaks to his self control and understanding of his own limitations.

He simply won’t take bad shots and expand his game outside of his comfort zone — for better or for worse — and would much rather force a pass than a shot when he finds himself in trouble. Plumlee is particularly limited on offense and doesn’t yet possess even a decent floater or runner from the mid-paint area, scoring only on a variety of layups and his trademarked reverse dunk along the baseline.

Where Plumlee does his damage is through the pick-and-roll and by putting himself in position around the rim to catch and finish dump offs from teammate penetration. He finished top-30 in the league last season in field goal percentage as the roll man, which encompassed slightly over 20 percent of his offensive possessions in 2014-15 according to NBA.com.

Plumlee needs to play at a quicker pace, where he can beat his (oftentimes bigger) defender up the floor and convert alley-oop opportunities in space, even if it wasn’t exactly the best fit with his more experienced Nets teammates.

While developing a competent jumper might be years away, if at all, for Mason Plumlee, he’ll have to convert his free throws at a higher clip than the 49.5 percent he flashed last season if he hopes to earn minutes under new head coach Terry Stotts, and after the Atlanta Hawks began intentionally putting him on the free-throw line in their first-round playoff series.

His offensive skills are still pretty basic and heavily dependent upon his physical tools, but Plumlee brings a vertical element in the high-screen-and-roll game that should be a nice complement to the dynamic perimeter game of Damian Lillard.

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CSJ: What else can you tell me about Mason Plumlee? What did you enjoy/not enjoy about watching him play on a nightly basis? How will he be received by Portland fans?

PM: Allow me to stereotype for a second, but Mason Plumlee should endear himself quite well to the Trail Blazers’ fanbase through his hustle and highlight plays alone. He’s cognizant of his own limitations on the basketball court, and realizes that the key to his production lies in maintaining his energy level and doing the little things in his limited minutes (i.e. rolling hard off the high screen, beating his man up the court, setting solid screens, back taps on long rebounds, etc.).

Plumlee doesn’t need the ball to be effective and, if anything, looks lost with it in his hands, preferring instead to make quick decisions upon the catch.

A player of his athletic caliber was sorely needed on the veteran and deliberate Brooklyn Nets teams of the last couple of seasons, but he lacked the kind of quality running mate to throw him alley oops or to break down a defense specifically to get him a bucket.

Instead, he made due with Deron Williams and Jarrett Jack (and Shaun Livingston the year prior), and ran hard every night and fearlessly attacked the rim by catching lobs and reverse dunking all over the opposition. His limited game might have never finished developing behind Brook Lopez and with the Brooklyn Nets’ bench unit going forward, and Nets fans have to hope that Portland’s coaching staff appreciates his game and develops his abilities far more than Lionel Hollins’s staff did.

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Blazers fans should be happy to hear that both Ed Davis and Mason Plumlee conjure a sort of affinity from those paying closest attention to their old teams. The skillset is slightly duplicitous between Plumlee and Davis, although Davis may be more of a rim protector and rebounder, while Plumlee more of a floor runner and using his agility and athleticism.

But having two options at possibly replacing what Robin Lopez was giving the Blazers is not a bad thing. Plus, both players seem like natural fits alongside the other young frontcourt duo on this roster, Meyers Leonard and Noah Vonleh, the former an emerging sharpshooter, the latter a theoretical one.

The Blazers may have made lemonade after NBA free agency and LaMarcus Aldridge handed them lemons.

Next: Lake Show Life Q&A on Ed Davis

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