Portland Trail Blazers: 5 goals for Noah Vonleh in 2017-18

3. Shoot at least 70 percent from the free throw line

Like many big men, Noah Vonleh struggled at the line last season. He shot 63.8 percent from the charity stripe in 2016-17. However, that wasn’t always the case. In 2015-16, Vonleh shot 74.5 percent from the line, which was a career-high. By contrast, his 2016-17 number was a career low.

It may have been the simple case of his average falling as the volume of shots increase. Vonleh’s best percentage came on 51 attempts. But his worst percentage happened on a career-high 94 attempts.

If he picks up more minutes in 2017-18 and maintains the 0.348 free throw rate in had in 2017, he could crack over 100 attempts this year. Therefore, he will need to shore up his free throws so that he isn’t an offensive liability late in the game like DeAndre Jordan.

Returning to a 70 percent benchmark seems more reasonable than having him replicate a 10.7 percent change in reverse. We’ll see if he will be able to find the form and confidence that helped him shoot well from the line in 2016. Being aggressive at the rim and a good free throw shooter would force defenders to think twice when taking him on at the basket.