Portland Trail Blazers – Setting a rotation for a talented and deep team
Terry Stotts, Portland Trail Blazers. (Photo via Wikimedia)
How is this going to work?
This is where Portland Trail Blazers fans can let their creative imaginations run wild. When Collins returns, Portland has three bigs that are 6-10 and up (four if you include Giles, but he’s mainly here for injury insurance). Then there are another four players (Hood, Melo, RoCo & DJJ) in the 6-6 to 6-8 range who effectively play the small and power forward spots.
Stotts can pair a defensive-minded player with an offensive-minded player. Think RoCo and Melo. Or DJJ with Hood. Or he can overload toward one of the team’s strengths. If Stots wants to go real big, he can move Hood to the shooting guard spot. Conversely, Covington can play center in a small-ball lineup, as he did in Houston last season.
Provided Trent and Simmons make another step up in their careers, Stotts has the luxury of dialing back McCollum and Lillard’s minutes. In this unusual year, it could be important than ever to keep the best backcourt in the NBA fresh for the postseason.
Is your head spinning too? This is the headache that Stotts and his staff are going to have all year. Most likely, Giles and Little probably won’t get many minutes because they are with the Blazers as injury insurance. Then there is Portland’s second-round pick this year, C.J. Elleby. The former Washington State Cougars star guard is likely to see garbage time at best this season. Elleby brings great size and a scoring mindset but isn’t overly athletic and can be streaky. That will hurt him in the NBA.