Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Victor Claver is a player who might serve as the biggest mystery for the Portland Trail Blazers during the NBA offseaon.
What everyone will be wondering is: what role will he play, if any, for the Trail Blazers?
The Blazer rookie hung around long enough to even crack some starting time in the Blazers lineup. He’s been the forgotten rookie on the team. No one expected him to be around now but he is. No one expects him to be around next season, but he probably will be.
The Trail Blazer coaches think Claver is a player who can do a little bit of everything on the court for them with multiple talents and they’re not ready to give him up, at least not without getting something in return.
What’s ironic is that Claver’s stock grew during the late season when the Blazers were on the 13-game losing streak that would end the season. He would do more things for the team as he got more minutes. In all of April, Claver drew more than 24 minutes of action. His last two games, he was on the court for 35 and 34 minutes. His confidence increased as his playing minutes went up.
Claver’s assignment was to usually get the key bucket that would put his team in a spot to go after the win. In a win over the Utah Jazz on April 1, he had 12 points but he was 4-of-5 from the floor and 2-of-3 from the 3-point arch. He didn’t waste any shots. He made sure that when the ball left his hand for the basket, he knew it was going to go in.
Teams watching the Blazers might make an offer for him in the offseason. He has plenty of potential and the Blazers already had some promising rookies.
That’s why they should keep Clavers. A team can never have too many promising rookies.
