Portland Trail Blazers: 5 goals for Meyers Leonard in 2017-18

3. Average 1.5 blocks per game

As stated in the previous slide, Leonard has a big body at 7’1″ and 245 pounds. Surprisingly, it doesn’t completely come through in his stats. In 2016-17, Leonard averaged only 7.0 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per 36 minutes.

He also came away with a 112 defensive rating and a defensive real plus-minus of 0.26. That DRPM number had him tied for 48th out of 80 power forwards.

Leonard was a better defensive player than an offensive one (-1.50 offensive RPM) last season. However, he could definitely tune up his defense in order to be a better threat on that side of the ball.

Specifically, he should be more of a rim protector and block more. Leonard averaged 1.9 blocks per game in in his second, and final, season at Illinois. He even averaged 1.1 blocks per 36 minutes in his rookie season. However, he seems to have moved away from being a prime rejector over the years.

In 2016-17, according to NBA.com, opponents shot 55.7 percent from within six feet of the rim when defended by Meyers Leonard. That’s not bad, and he should improve on that in 2017-18. If he couples that with a renewed ability to block, he will be better defensive threat inside for Portland.