Portland Trail Blazers: Reviewing a big week of offseason moves
Derrick Jones Jr., Miami Heat, Portland Trail Blazers.
New Faces
Robert Covington
Robert Covington, Harry Giles III, and Derrick Jones Jr. are the newest Blazers. I’ve written about RoCo before. He’s a younger and better version of Trevor Ariza. For instance, an underrated part of RoCo’s game is his strong ability for the weakside block. Covington will bring his standard 3-and-D style. He will help space the floor for bigger driving lanes.
Derrick Jones Jr.
Jones is a less-heralded player known for winning the 2020 Dunk Competition (poor Aaron Gordon has been robbed twice now). He’s mostly a defensive specialist. Last year in Miami, DJJ showed great improvement to his game. For example, he loves to guard the opponent’s best wing player. It will be a heck of a battle this season to see which one is the team’s best defender.
DJJ rebounds well for a small forward and produces a good number of steals. He’s only 23-years-old and has four years of NBA experience. Over the last three seasons, the numbers show a marked improvement to his offensive game. In 2020–21, DJJ will be entering his prime. The Blazers may have just nabbed their “Golden Ticket.” I don’t think it will happen in his first season in the Rose City as Jones will have to fight for all the minutes he gets. The following year, I’d expect him to have a much bigger role.
Harry Giles III
Giles doesn’t fall in the category of familiar faces even though the Blazers drafted him 20th, then traded him on draft night 2017 for Zach Collins. The 6-11 big was a dominant high school player. At one point, scouts compared him to Chris Webber. Unfortunately, Giles had two major knee operations since then. He’s only 20 years old, so there is time for him to get back on track.
Signed to a one-year deal for the league minimum, there is still big-time upside in Giles. In the same vein as DJJ, he could be another “Golden Ticket.” the Blazers just signed. However, Giles will also be in a heated battle for playing time.