Meyers Leonard's long awaited appreciation topic

[red_power]

Put your goodbyes, thank yous, sobbings here.


Let me start it first. Blazers were really blessed spending all those 7 years with a guy Neil Olshey had so much belief to.
I'm sure he hasn't said his last word yet.

[Masterfully]

Good night, sweet prince

[The Sebastian Express]

Thanks for seven years of interesting hair and facial hair decisions. I'll never forget that time you went up for a rebound but instead of going for the ball you slapped the back of the guy's head.

There were some great Meyer Moments, though, against Memphis and against Golden State. Those were fun.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Went out on a high note, thats for sure


He was a class act here in Portland. Never seemed to pout about minutes, always was excited to cheer for his teammates from the bench and played hard when he did get minutes.

Best of luck in Miami

[DeBlazerRiddem]

Thanks for seven years of interesting hair and facial hair decisions. I'll never forget that time you went up for a rebound but instead of going for the ball you slapped the back of the guy's head.

There were some great Meyer Moments, though, against Memphis and against Golden State. Those were fun.

Oh man, this was a classic wasn't it (spoiler so no one who doesn't want to see it has to look at it again)

Spoiler:

[Dzon Dilindzer]

[RTG HD]

GLB for the Miami game this year?

Spoiler:

[BigLurch92]

Watch him put up good numbers on the Heat. I think he will do well.

[DusterBuster]

I was happy he started coming into his own. I think he'll be solid for the Heat, but thinking of Meyers being the starting C had me sweating there for a bit lol.

[Wizenheimer]

I was happy he started coming into his own. I think he'll be solid for the Heat, but thinking of Meyers being the starting C had me sweating there for a bit lol.

that and the possibility of Olshey re-signing him. Of course, I guess that could still happen....damn

Meyers and Mo get to trade in the Oregon winter and income tax for the Miami winter and no tax. They're doing alright...except for hurricanes

[Shem]

I was happy he started coming into his own. I think he'll be solid for the Heat, but thinking of Meyers being the starting C had me sweating there for a bit lol.

that and the possibility of Olshey re-signing him. Of course, I guess that could still happen....damn

Meyers and Mo get to trade in the Oregon winter and income tax for the Miami winter and no tax. They're doing alright...except for hurricanes

Harkless is actually going to the Clippers. It's part of the 4 team trade for the Heat to get Jimmy Butler.

[Wizenheimer]

I was happy he started coming into his own. I think he'll be solid for the Heat, but thinking of Meyers being the starting C had me sweating there for a bit lol.

that and the possibility of Olshey re-signing him. Of course, I guess that could still happen....damn

Meyers and Mo get to trade in the Oregon winter and income tax for the Miami winter and no tax. They're doing alright...except for hurricanes

Harkless is actually going to the Clippers. It's part of the 4 team trade for the Heat to get Jimmy Butler.

yeah...so then Meyers is the only one who has to worry about Hurricanes. Mo has to worry about valley girls

[elias808]

Gotta give big ups to Meyers for his off court performance. He would often come into the restaurant I worked at, and was nothing but amazing to my staff. For that, ill give him props!

[Wizenheimer]

Gotta give big ups to Meyers for his off court performance. He would often come into the restaurant I worked at, and was nothing but amazing to my staff. For that, ill give him props!

Portland has a roster of quality people

I actually think Paul Allen gets big credit for this. After the JailBlazer days, he said enough is enough. In fact, I remember a couple of interviews he gave where he said he was making it a priority to only go after high character guys. I think Olshey received those instructions and executed them very well.

In that light, Whiteside may represent a small gamble but I think everybody in the organization has confidence in Dame's leadership

[DaVoiceMaster]

I'd welcome Leonard back in a heartbeat on a minimum contract. The guy was great, always rooting for his teammates, even when he wasn't playing. It's great that he had such a good game the last time he put on a Blazers jersey. Quality guy and great teammate. I wish nothing but the best and would bring him back in a heart beat as a backup to the backup big.

[Sinobas]

Meyers had a lot of tools: size, strength, athleticism, very good shooter, but he's just not a natural/instinctive basketball player. He's 27 and as been in the league a long time, but is one of the most mechanical/hesitant players I've ever seen. How funny would it be if he finally at 28 put it together? He'd be the slowest developing player in NBA history, but I think he actually has a chance to do that.

[HoopsFanAZ]

Meyers loved his dog Bella and loves his trick-shot-making wife and mom and Marine Corps older brother. Good enough for me.
I wish him well.

[Tim Lehrbach]

It's been an interesting Portland Trail Blazers career for Meyers Leonard, to put it kindly.

As Sinobas alluded to, Meyers Leonard came into the NBA with a lot of tools and even managed to develop some others in his time with the Blazers. That he's not what he or anybody had hoped all those tools would add up to is just something that happens when you draft players based on necessarily imperfect information and miss that some other essential attributes for the player you project may not be there. But then Olshey and Allen gave him that long and expensive second contract, guaranteeing not only a major piece of the payroll pie but a roster spot that may have been more responsibly used for another kind of player, and minor disappointment became disaster.

We know from reports and interviews how much it frustrated Meyers to fall so short of his perceived ceiling and struggle to contribute at all. We all know how much it frustrated us before bemused resignation set in -- and in both we tended to be rather severe. It can't be easy to be considered a bust in the NBA and lose the support of fans, especially if you care about your trade, your reputation, and living up to your promise. I'll say this for him, and I'm certainly not the first to recognize it: Meyers has shown a ton of perseverance and humility over the past few years. I respect him for that, and I believe that he is correct when he speaks (hopefully) of having contributed to building the culture of this overachieving and professional organization. He's overcome physical and emotional hurdles and had to set aside his ego and any aspirations at individual glory. When he wasn't reviled for his disproportionate paycheck, he was a laughingstock for his awkward efforts and poor results. He could easily have washed out of the league or just accepted his DNPs and phoned it in while collecting the hefty salary. Instead, he intensified his training, played with passion, supported his teammates, and accepted small roles that allowed him to make a contribution. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen a player that learned to play so rigidly within his limitations.

One way to view the player he has become -- and we often did see it this way during live action, when wins were on the line -- is that this formulaic approach caps what he can do on a basketball court, and this proved a lingering problem when the team was starved for more dynamism in its offense and fluidity in its defense. Another way to view it is that we got a lot more than nothing from Leonard the past two seasons because Stotts and Meyers were both open-minded enough to put his skills to very precises uses, and no others. I'm happy that this process of, uh, output refinement, along with Meyers' commitment, has had the somewhat surprising result of making him a substantially better basketball player.

I believe he can continue to improve, not to such extent that he transforms into another kind of player entirely, but inasmuch as he and his next team can continue to mitigate for his shortcomings while plying his uncommon skills to the greatest effect over perhaps a larger share of minutes than he was able to carry effectively here. At an appropriate price, he'll be at minimum a good role model and part-time specialist when the game needs an extra floor-spreader or injection of aggression, or in long relief when injuries or blowouts happen. At his best and surrounded by the right players to cover his limitations, he may yet turn in more games like his last one with Portland and be a positive regular rotation player.

Ultimately, I think the move is good for Meyers and good for the Blazers.

[DusterBuster]

Honestly, this is probably the best parting gift the Blazers could have given Meyers. He seems like he is going to love living in Miami. Given his unique... style and personality, I can absolutely see Meyers and his wife living it up out in South Beach.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Honestly, this is probably the best parting gift the Blazers could have given Meyers. He seems like he is going to love living in Miami. Given his unique... style and personality, I can absolutely see Meyers and his wife living it up out in South Beach.

This occurred to me too. A lot of players are attracted to Miami, for sure. And, playing for Spo and Riley may be a good fit for his personality. His last two years of hard-earned, modest successes may be a launching pad for happier years elsewhere.