In about a month the Portland Trail Blazers will embark on their 2024-25 regular-season campaign. Hopes are high in Portland because of the appearance of major changes in the roster. On paper, that seems valid. The Blazers ditched two of their main players this summer: long-time scorer Anfernee Simons and second-chance center DeAndre Ayton. They also brought on major veterans in Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard with rookie center Yang Hansen rounding out the field of newcomers.<\/p>\n
Whether those moves actually change Portland\u2019s fortunes remains to be seen. Acknowledging that, we\u2019re beginning our look at the new season by examining some of the questions the Blazers will need to answer before we can trust in a potential Renaissance. First we looked at the halfcourt offense through the lens of three-point shooting<\/a>. Then we examined the transition game<\/a>. Now we\u2019ll talk about an area that could impact both: rebounding.<\/p>\n Last season the Blazers ranked second in the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage. That impressive achievement made up for their relatively low offensive output and percentages. 13.4 offensive boards per game gave Portland extra chances at missed shots. There were plenty.<\/p>\n On the flip side, Portland ranked 28th in defensive rebounding percentage. That not only muted their advantage\u2014allowing opponents to score extra points too\u2014it hampered their ability to get out and run. If you can\u2019t secure the ball decisively it\u2019s hard to get it down the floor before the opposing defense sets up.<\/p>\n Overall, that left the Blazers with a middling 14th ranking in total rebounding rate. They weren\u2019t bad, but they didn\u2019t dominate by any stretch.<\/p>\n Much has been made of Portland losing two top scorers in Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton over the summer. Little has been said about their rebounding ranks.<\/p>\n Here are the top four rebounders per game for the Blazers last year.<\/p>\n Deandre Ayton (10.2)Donovan Clingan (7.9)Deni Avdija (7.3)Robert Williams III (5.9)<\/p>\n Here are the top four rebounders on a per-minute and per-possession basis:<\/p>\n Donovan ClinganDeandre AytonRobert Williams IIIJabari Walker<\/p>\n Astute observers will note that two of Portland\u2019s top four rebounders by minute\/possession are gone. A third is Robert Williams who has not been able to take the floor for a significant number of games over the last couple of seasons because of injury.<\/p>\n The next batch of rebounders are all forwards. Avdija made the total rebounding list because of his minutes played. His rebounding numbers are good for a combo forward but not special compared to most of the NBA. After that it\u2019s guys like Toumani Camara, Matisse Thybulle, and Jerami Grant\u2026all mobile, all undersized for true rebounders, none dominant in the field or even close.<\/p>\n The story gets worse when you consider offensive rebounding. The highest per-minute\/per-possession offensive rebounders for the Blazers last year were Clingan, Ayton, Williams, Duop Reath, and Walker. After that we\u2019re down to Kris Murray and Camara who, while giving effort, were not changing the game with their offensive board work. Ayton is gone. Williams doesn\u2019t play much. Reath doesn\u2019t play much. Walker is gone.<\/p>\n The Blazers did draft 7-foot center Yang Hansen this year. Despite his size, he\u2019s not known for his rebounding and did not show aptitude for it during his Summer League stint. It\u2019s possible he will become a good rebounder, but he\u2019ll need to develop that aspect of his game.<\/p>\n Long story short, the Blazers are putting a LOT of pressure on Clingan to generate rebounds for the team. Like, the entire team. The gap between him and everybody else is huge right now.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not just a personal challenge for Clingan. As it stands, Portland will be all but forced to play the sophomore center big minutes lest they surrender the glass completely. That means chaining themselves to his style of play in the middle and hoping he\u2019ll stay out of foul trouble\u2014a serious issue for him during his rookie season.<\/p>\n There\u2019s good news in all of this. Defensive rebounds tend to go in the \u201csomebody\u2019s going to get them\u201d category. You\u2019re likely to see rebounding stats of other players inflated, making up for the loss of Ayton and any continued absence of Williams organically. That doesn\u2019t change the fact that those newly-minted defensive rebounders will need to head towards the defensive bucket instead of their own offensive end in order to secure the ball, hampering the break like we just said. But Portland probably won\u2019t collapse on the defensive end. Nobody does. It\u2019s just a matter of how many people and how much effort you need to get there.<\/p>\n Offensive boards are a completely different story. Portland will either have to find offensive rebounders or shift away from O-Rebs as an emphasis in their offense. If they do the former, can they get back in transition defense? If not, they\u2019re giving away as many easy points as they\u2019re generating with those extra offensive rebounds. If the deemphasize offensive rebounding, can they raise their percentage shooting, foul-shot attempts, and three-point scoring enough to make up for it? If not, an already-hurting offense could face serious pain.<\/p>\n Rebounders have been undervalued in the NBA in recent years, for somewhat good reasons. Even so, the Blazers could probably use another one in the regular rotation to make this aspect of the game a little easier.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no need for Blazers fans to be fatalistic about this aspect of the game yet. It is an area the team will need to address with its new lineup. The big challenge will be shoring up the glass without leaking points or possessions in other ways as a natural result of doing so.<\/p>\n