NBA Blog – NBA Basketball Blog
NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
Trail Blazers blog – Portland Trail Blazers basketball blog
The NBA game scheduled for this evening between the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minneapolis, MN has been postponed due to unsafe playing conditions on the arena floor.
The game will be rescheduled at a later date.
Trail Blazers center Festus Ezeli is expected to undergo surgery next week on his left knee, it was announced today by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey.
While the exact surgery date is pending, it will be performed by Dr. Robert LaPrade at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado.
Ezeli will be out for the remainder of the 2016-17 season.
|
Further medical evaluation confirms that Portland guard Evan Turner sustained a fracture of the third metacarpal in his right hand.
He is expected to be sidelined for 5-6 weeks. The injury will not require surgery.
Turner injured his hand during the third quarter of Portland’s 114-113 win at Dallas on Tuesday.
In 50 games (10 starts) this season, Turner, 28, is posting averages of 9.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
|
The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired an unprotected first round draft pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a 2018 first round pick, it was announced today by president of basketball operations Neil Olshey.
The 2018 pick sent to Cleveland was originally acquired from the Cavaliers along with Anderson Varejao in exchange for a future second round selection on Feb. 18, 2016.
Portland now holds two first round selections in the 2017 NBA Draft.
 |
Three of the last four Player of the Week winners in the NBA have used the Portland Trail Blazers’ porous defense as a springboard to earn the weekly honors.
The huge nights from Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis and Kevin Love left Damian Lillard pondering the missing element behind Portland’s inability to slow down opponents this season. His solution is straightforward: The Blazers need a mean streak.
“That might be the change that needs to be made … is us just not being the nice team (where) everybody likes each other,” Lillard said following Blazers practice on Monday. “That’s a great story, but maybe we’ve got to play a much more mean game.”
From the outside, it seems like teams don’t feel much resistance going against the Blazers’ defense. Portland struggles guarding pick and rolls and locating opposing players in transition.
Quick Take: The Blazers are 9-10 this season. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are having excellent seasons. But the Blazers’ main story this season has been their defense. It’s been miserable. The squad has a league-worst defensive efficiency, through yesterday’s games.
|
The Portland Trail Blazers have exercised the fourth-year contract options on forward Noah Vonleh and guard Shabazz Napier.
Vonleh, 21, posted averages of 3.6 points (42.1% FG, 74.5% FT), 3.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 15.1 minutes in 78 games (56 starts) last season with the Trail Blazers after being acquired from the Charlotte Hornets on June 24, 2015. Vonleh was the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft.
Acquired on July 7 from the Orlando Magic in exchange for cash considerations, Napier, 24, has averaged 4.4 points (36.1% FG, 34.7% 3-PT, 76.2% FT), 1.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 15.2 minutes over two seasons with the Miami Heat and Orlando. Napier was originally selected as the 24th overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft.
Mason Plumlee played and started all 82 games last season for the Trail Blazers, averaging 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 25.4 minutes per outing. Although those assist numbers don’t pop out, Plumlee is versatile, an excellent passer, and nobody would be surprised were he to eventually put up a triple-double in a game. Here’s CSNNW with more:
|
The growing question among the Trail Blazers is not whether center Mason Plumlee will record a triple-double this season, but how many.
“Oh, I can see him getting a lot of them,’’ Damian Lillard said Wednesday after Plumlee had eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in 24 minutes in the Blazers’ 88-84 exhibition win at Utah.
Two developments have led teammates to predict the esteemed accomplishment of recording double-figures in three categories.
First, Plumlee has developed a mid-range jump shot, which this preseason has graduated from offseason experiment to a legitimate part of his arsenal…
Second, the Blazers have added new offensive sets this season that will more often feature him in play-making positions. The new role builds off his effective playoffs, when he helped pick apart the Clippers with his athleticism, decision-making and passing.
The Trail Blazers waived guard Luis Montero today.
Signed as an undrafted free agent on July 9, 2015, Montero played in 12 games for the Trail Blazers as a rookie in 2015-16, averaging 1.2 points (26.3% FG, 11.1% 3-PT, 75.0% FT), 0.3 rebounds and 0.1 assists.
During the 2016 NBA preseason, Montero recorded three points (1-1 3-PT), one assist and one block in his lone contest against Utah on Oct. 3.
Portland’s roster now stands at 17 players.
The Trail Blazers on Monday signed center Greg Stiemsma to a training camp contract.
In four NBA seasons with Boston, Minnesota, New Orleans and Toronto, Stiemsma (6-11, 260) has averages of 3.2 points (50.9% FG, 70.5% FT), 3.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.14 steals and 15.0 minutes in 203 career games (42 starts).
He will wear No. 54 for the Trail Blazers.
 |
Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh underwent a procedure today to remove a bone fragment from his right thigh musculature.
Dr. Evan Ellis performed the procedure at Rebound in Vancouver, Washington.
The expected recovery time is 3-4 weeks.
Vonheh played 15.1 minutes per game in the 2015-16 season for the Blazers, averaging 3.6 points and 3.9 rebounds. That is backup-level court time, though he started in 56 of 78 games played.