Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Nick Poust, an avid Portland Trail Blazers fan. Here he talks about the Blazers’ point guard situation prior to any trades taking place.
The Blazers’ four point guards: two veterans and two for the future
The Portland Trail Blazers have four point guards and no true center, just Juwan Howard masquerading as one. Three of the four point guards — Andre Miller
Miller, a 33-year old stocky point guard, wasn’t Portland’s first, second, or third target this past offseason, but he was atop head coach Nate McMillan’s list. An extremely durable guard who entered this season having played in 530 straight games, a record amongst active players, he has increased his iron-man mark to 585 games as one of the leaders on Portland’s up-and-coming team.
Quiet and guarded, Miller has done what made him so enticing to McMillan and ultimately General Manager Kevin Pritchard, leading the Blazers with an aggressively intelligent mindset. He isn’t a solid shooter and isn’t efficient from outside, and he knows that. So, by not trying to do too much, he has had a substantial amount of success relying on his strengths. Very strong at 6’3″ and 200 pounds, his bread and butter lies in the post, a rarity among point guards. He backs down defenders of any size and either loses them with an up-and-under move, plows through, or uses his deceptive quickness to maneuver around for a layup. With a vertical leap not better than ten inches, he has complimented this attack with a mid-range jumper from his tippy-toes. Overall, he has benefited Portland with a full arsenal of moves, reasoning why he’s third on the team in scoring at 13 points a contest.
He pulled out all the stops against the Dallas Mavericks earlier this year, carving up their defense with post-up moves, driving layups, turnaround jumpers, spot-up twos, and even a seldom-attempted three-pointer. He showed the Mavericks everything he had in the bag and they had no answer. In all, he scored 52 points — 14 more than his previous career high — by making 22 of 31 attempts. A testament to his inside game, he lit up the Mavericks despite shooting and making only one three-pointer.
Even though he hasn’t come close to reaching that point total since that January 30th 114-112 overtime win, his impact has been just as great. Coming into this season having averaged eight assists per game, he has continuously made his teammates better. On top of his ability to make plays for himself and others, he has also been very versatile defensively, guarding everyone from point guard to power forward and has done so effectively.
He has been one of their few consistent forces on both ends, but what makes the Blazers backcourt so impressive is how his style complements that of the other two point guards that see substantial minutes.
Blake, 29, has a similar basketball I.Q., but his offensive strengths are the exact opposite of Miller. Though he is similarly pass-first and has an equally solid mid-range jumper, where he usually makes his presence felt is from three-point land.
With the rotation McMillan uses and the bounty of versatile guards at the coach’s disposal, Blake’s minutes fluctuate. Yet, though his offensive and assist numbers do as a result, he has been one of their most important players of late. He may not fill the stat-sheet, but he’s hit plenty of big shots that have either ignited rallies or ended offensive slumps. His 20 points and 12 assists in the Blazers final game before the All-Star break, a win against the Phoenix Suns, were both season-highs.
If he and his $4 million expiring contract aren’t traded before the Trade Deadline, Blake can continue to help Portland with his 37 percent three-point shooting, unselfishness, intelligence, and prototypical point guard mindset.
Bayless, third on their depth chart, doesn’t have a point guard’s mentality. A little more bulky and hard-nosed than Miller, the 21-year old second year guard is the definition of aggressiveness. Instead of regularly looking to pass he looks to drive to the basket. Sometimes he does so with little control, but more often than not he either makes a whirling layup or gets fouled. Trying to develop a consistent jump-shot to compliment his inside game, Bayless has had a tendency to disappear offensively. Nonetheless, with a few breakout games under his belt, his fearlessness and athleticism has made him a very likeable player with the fans and a nearly un-tradeable asset with the front-office.
There are doubts whether he can be their point guard of the future given his ability to score, but his moments of brilliance and potential makes him a integral part Portland’s bright future.
If he continues to transform into a scoring combo-guard and can’t run the point, the Blazers fourth point guard has the skillset to do so. Mills has shined in the Developmental League in this his rookie season. During his time with the Stampede he exploded offensively multiple times, but he also showed Portland other pieces of his repertoire. Aside from having a solid shooting stroke with three-point range, his quickness, unselfishness, and intelligence have caught the eye of the Blazers, a team that managed to snag him 56th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Going by his Developmental League statistics, highlight reels, and his Olympic experience as a member of the Australian National Team, he has Bayless’ aggressiveness, Blake’s three-pointer, and the veteran qualities of Miller. At 21 years of age, he may need some more seasoning in the Development League, but when he’s ready the thirty teams that passed on his services will be shaking their heads in disbelief.
Considering Bayless is averaging 18 minutes per and Mills has only appeared in three games, Miller and Blake are the two point guards that are seeing the most minutes. But, with Miller only signed through next year and Blake an impending free-agent, the backcourt reigns will be handed to Bayless and Mills sooner rather than later. And is that ever an exciting thought.
Nick Poust writes about the Portland Trail Blazers at his blog. You can also follow him on twitter.
