Through 21 games of the season, the Portland Trail Blazers seem to have figured out roles for their multiple frontcourt players.
The Portland Trail Blazers are currently 13-8, standing fourth in the Western Conference. The team has assumed a new defensive identity, but also remains one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the NBA.
However, there were questions regarding Portland’s frontcourt heading into the season. Outside of Jusuf Nurkic being the starting center, everything else was up in the air.
Who would start at power forward? Who would back up Nurkic? There are six players on the Blazers’ roster that can play power forward. Four of those six can also play center. Entering training camp, the front of the roster looked like such a mess.
However, after 21 games, it seems that head coach Terry Stotts has figured out fitting roles for all six players. Now, the team is running smoothly.
The power forward depth chart
Al-Farouq Aminu was named the opening night starter at power forward. Aminu struggled at the position last season, shooting a career-worst 39.3 percent from the field. This year, however, he got off to a much better start. Aminu averaged 9.4 points and 8.1 rebounds through the first eight games.
Unfortunately, Aminu sprained his right ankle in the Blazers’ Nov. 1 loss to the Utah Jazz. He has gone on to miss the last 13 games. Luckily, he returns to the lineup on Thursday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. He will likely come off of the bench for now. We’ll see if he can work his way back into the starting lineup.
With Aminu out, Noah Vonleh stepped into the starting power forward role. Vonleh missed the first seven games of the season while recovering from a strained right shoulder, but he returned to the rotation just in time to fill-in for Aminu.
Vonleh struggled in his first four starts. He averaged 2.3 points per game and 6.3 rebounds in those games. Stotts then benched him for three games in favor of Caleb Swanigan.
Vonleh took those three games as wake-up call, proceeding to show he belonged in the starting lineup. He averaged 6.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in those games. That output allowed Vonleh to reclaim the starting role. He has started the last six games, averaging 7.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
Swanigan is the third-string power forward. He has quite a bit of upside and has shown flashes of a productive player. However, with the Blazers focused on playoff contention, Swanigan is currently on the fringes of the rotation. Portland likes to develop its players slowly, so Swanigan will eventually be a bigger factor. But for now, the power forward position is mostly handled by Aminu and Vonleh.
Well, actually, they’re centers
Ed Davis was the big wild card heading into the season. Coming off of an injury-derailed season in 2016-17, it was hard to tell where he would fit into the rotation. Would he be the impactful role player he had always been, or would he be out of the rotation?
Davis has ended up becoming the team’s backup center to Jusuf Nurkic. The hustle and bruising game seems to be back at 2015-16 levels. Davis is averaging 4.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this year. In 2016, he averaged 6.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and placed eighth in Sixth Man of the Year voting. We’ll see if his continued production gets him votes for that award this season.
Meyers Leonard is the third center in Portland, only playing six games so far this season. He has looked better in this small sample size than in past years, averaging 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Leonard is shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 44.4 percent on 3-pointers. Both of those numbers are career highs.
Lastly, Zach Collins is the fourth center, essentially in a developmental role. He has also played six games, but is averaging 5.3 minutes per game to Leonard’s 10.5. Collins came to the league after being a bench player behind an undrafted center, so it’s probably going to take time to mold him into a rotation player.
The Portland Trail Blazers have banded together and started the season on the right foot. Part of that is due to the roles at power forward and center being clearly established.
Next: 2017-18 Week 7 NBA Power Rankings
Things seemed so uncertain in the preseason. However, everything eventually fell into place. With a trying December on tap — featuring matchups against the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors — every player will need to step into their roles and deliver at a high level.