Meyers Leonard, a high-energy, high-motor, stretch-four who might fit like the Hoiball offense since Pau Gasol is likely leaving. The Bulls could free up cap space and bid like crazy for him.
The Portland Trail Blazers seem to have had a long-term falling out with their young center Meyers Leonard early this season. Both sides passed over a contract extension before the deadline this season. This opens a window for every team who likes the agile and athletic stretch-four who has a 7’3″wingspan and a 9’0″ standing reach.
Leonard was solid in last year’s playoffs and was expected to take over the starting role this season, but started slowly. A shoulder injury in late December forced him to sit and he lost his starting spot for a while to Noah Vonleh.
As the new year turned, even off the bench, Leonard’s game blossomed again and he was shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range in January and that percentage spiked to a phenomenal 46.2 percent by March.
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From mid-range, Leonard rounded out his game and made 52.3 percent of his attempts. He finished the season scoring 13.8 points (37.7 percent from long range) per 36 minutes with 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Because most of Portland’s offense comes from their backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Leonard may actually score higher in a Hoiball system and have less chances for getting injured because of the reverse priority Fred Hoiberg makes for bigs who can shoot well, as long as he has the pieces to run his system.
Since Hoiberg was stuck with Pau Gasol, he was unable to run his attacking pace offense to the fullest. Gasol was complaining by December of the all-game running attack the Bulls kept running and was asking to slow it down in parts of the game so the team could settle down run more of a half-court style of game.
The Blazers rely heavily on their twin-guard, driving offense to break down opponents. Lillard and McCollum penetrate at will, forcing the defense to collapse, thereby giving the Blazers shooters open looks. Leonard makes the Rip City duo deadlier by being a decent three-point shooter and for diving into the paint for overmatched put-backs.
Watch him play off the Blazer backcourt in the video.
More bulls: The conundrum if Joakim Noah leaves the Bulls this summer
On defense, Leonard is decent enough to be a wall in the paint and even block shots when able. When his shoulder injury recurred (similar to Joakim Noah’s), he was lost for the season, including the playoffs. Like Noah, he is now slowly recovering into the summer and is expected to sign with the highest bidder if Portland chooses not to match offers.
A possible bidding war for Meyers Leonard this summer gives the Bulls their best chance of getting a young veteran player. He should still be able to keep his game going as one of the best upcoming young, athletic stretch-fours who can score at a relatively good rate.
Meyers Leonard was drafted as the 11th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft (out of the nearby University of Illinois) and his last contract was priced at only $2,317,920. Interested teams like maybe Milwaukee, who are going run-and-gun with guard-forward Giannis Antetokounmpo next year, and might start the bidding war at $7 million a year.
Next: Understanding the Bulls' salary cap flexibility this summer
The Bulls may have a shot at getting Meyes Leonard this summer and should really look at him. Being one of the few much-coveted agile and mobile, stronger stretch-fours who makes a sharing offense deadlier, the Bulls may choose Leonard over keeping Taj Gibson (last year of contract, his ceiling maxed out already, injury prone) for a long-term solution for Hoiball’s bigs.