Indiana University Athletics
Reaction To Vonleh Trade to Portland
6/25/2015 5:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Taken from Trailblazers.com
Trail Blazers Acquire Noah Vonleh From Charlotte
The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired forward Noah Vonleh and guard Gerald Henderson from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for forward Nicolas Batum, it was announced today by President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey.
Vonleh (6-10, 240) enters his second NBA season in 2015-16 after Charlotte selected the Indiana standout with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft. In 25 career games with the Hornets, Vonleh, 19, is averaging 3.3 points (39.5% FG, 38.5% 3-PT, 69.2% FT), 3.4 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 10.4 minutes.
In his lone season at Indiana, Vonleh averaged 11.3 points and led the Big 10 in rebounding (9.0 rpg) on his way to Big 10 Freshman of the Year and All-Big 10 Third Team honors.
An NBA veteran, Henderson (6-5, 215) holds career averages of 12.0 points (44.3% FG, 30.9% 3-PT, 79.4% FT), 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 27.5 minutes in six seasons with Charlotte. Selected with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft out of Duke, Henderson, 27, ranked 26th in the NBA in free throw percentage last season (84.8%), while leading the Hornets in scoring 17 times.
"Nic Batum was a key contributor to all of our recent success," said Olshey. "He will truly be missed as a person and a player. We wish Nic all the best for the future."
In 481 career games (428 starts) with the Trail Blazers, Batum posted averages of 11.2 points (44.6% FG, 36.3% 3-PT, 83.4% FT), 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 30.8 minutes. Acquired in a 2008 draft day trade with Houston, Batum's 751 career 3-pointers are the third-most in franchise history.
Noah Vonleh offers Blazers insurance if LaMarcus Aldridge departs
By Kevin Pelton via ESPN
From a pure value standpoint, this deal is a no-brainer for the Blazers. To get a former top-10 pick for one year of Batum is a good piece of business, in soccer parlance. Portland will overpay Henderson next season (he'll make $6 million), then be left with just Vonleh on his rookie contract.
In the context of the Blazers' complicated summer, the assessment isn't quite so easy. Three of Portland's five starters are unrestricted free agents, and one of the two who was under contract just got traded. Much as the Blazers might insist this move is unrelated to LaMarcus Aldridge's free agency, it's hard to see Vonleh as anything but insurance at power forward. While Aldridge and Vonleh could potentially play together, Aldridge has always preferred to play with a traditional center rather than get beat up defending bigger opponents, so that idea -- plus the loss of a starter -- doesn't figure to help lure him back in free agency.
Gerald Henderson and C.J. McCollum are now the lone Portland players under contract on the wing. Henderson can play some small forward, as could Wesley Matthews if the Blazers re-sign him, but Portland surely needs a bigger option at the position in the event the other starters return.
With cap holds for Aldridge, Robin Lopez and Matthews on the books, the Blazers could have something like $11 million in cap space if they renounce the rights to Dorell Wright and waive backup center Chris Kaman, whose contract is guaranteed for just $1 million. This deal added about $3.6 million to that total, but it still wouldn't figure to be enough for Portland to chase after the best unrestricted small forwards on the market like DeMarre Carroll and Danny Green. That would leave the Blazers looking at players like Al-Farouq Aminu, Jae Crowder (a restricted free agent) and Mike Dunleavy, players who would be a downgrade from Batum.
So there are a lot of moving pieces from Portland's perspective, but if Aldridge does leave this could be a solid first step toward rebuilding around a young core led by point guard Damian Lillard. In McCollum and stretch 4/5 Meyers Leonard, the Blazers have some interesting young pieces, and Vonleh adds to that collection.
Though Vonleh barely played as a rookie in Charlotte, he was reasonably promising when he did take the court, grabbing 18.3 percent of all available rebounds. He won't turn 20 until August and rated as one of the better players in last year's draft by my projections in large part because of his youth. He's got excellent size and length for a power forward, and figures to eventually develop the ability to step away from the basket and space the floor. (In a miniscule sample size, he was 5-of-13 from 3-point range as a rookie.)
All of that makes Vonleh a good addition to Portland's roster. It's just that acquiring him for a veteran starter might signal the Blazers acknowledging the end of their mini-run with the Aldridge/Lillard core and a move in a new direction.
