Keon Johnson

[bigp621]

Being a Vols fan, excited to see what he does this year with Portland. He has looked good during the summer league. Do you think he will start beside dame this year?

[rifleman69]

Being a Vols fan, excited to see what he does this year with Portland. He has looked good during the summer league. Do you think he will start beside dame this year?

By starting do you mean be the 3rd or 4th guy off the bench?

[bigp621]

By starting do you mean be the 3rd or 4th guy off the bench?

He won't be the 3rd or 4th guy of the bench. Look at his numbers when he had a chance to play last year. He put up solid numbers. Might want to go back to space mountain.

[rifleman69]

He won't be the 3rd or 4th guy of the bench. Look at his numbers when he had a chance to play last year. He put up solid numbers. Might want to go back to space mountain.

And look who played for the Blazers last year when Keon got those minutes. He is the third or fourth guy off the bench at best.

Unless some how you think Simons is a 6th man? :doh: :confused: :confused: ;)

[rifleman69]

I mean ESPN says he's third in the SF role. But some how that's starting in your world.

https://www.espn.com/nba/team/depth/_/name/por

[wubh]

The Bruno Caboclo 'he's 2 years away from being 2 years away' draft analysis might be applicable to Keon as well.

He's an amazing athlete even by NBA standards but almost certainly 100% not ready for non-tanking minutes.

He showed some defensive and playmaking potential flashes but sorry, if he's playing a lot for the Trail Blazers, something has gone seriously wrong with Portland's season and Dame has either been traded or about to demand one.

[rifleman69]

The Bruno Caboclo 'he's 2 years away from being 2 years away' draft analysis might be applicable to Keon as well.

He's an amazing athlete even by NBA standards but almost certainly 100% not ready for non-tanking minutes.

He showed some defensive and playmaking potential flashes but sorry, if he's playing a lot for the Trail Blazers, something has gone seriously wrong with Portland's season and Dame has either been traded or about to demand one.

Yep, someone's just drinking the school kool-aid without knowing exactly how good (or unpolished) he is.

[easeth]

As an avid Blazers follower I can assure you that Keon will not get much playing time (if any) to start the season. The Summer League showing was good (although not great) but real NBA is another beast and this year won´t be the year of experimenting with talent upside as the win now mode is stronger than ever with Dame not getting younger.

Don´t get me wrong, Keon has some upside and is crazy athletic but there are several players ahead of him in the rotation. I would reckon the following:

Starters:
Dame
Ant
Nas Little
Grant
Nurkic

Bench:
Hart
GP2
Winslow
Watford
Eubanks (we need a second big when not going small with Watford or Grant)
Walker (who was better than Keon in the SL and fills a clearer void on the roster)

If the Blazers so chose they may also want to give Sharpe some playing time initially since he has the potential of being a true star going forth.

That finds Keon far from legit playing time along with the likes of Greg Brown and Brandon Williams.

While I like Keon unfortunately his situation in Portland is not ideal for development and if you are investing in his cards the best case scenario is him being traded mid season to a tanking team where he could get some legit playing time.

Sorry for the extensive rant ^_^