NBA
#23 Portland Trail Blazers: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
With the 23rd pick in the 2015 draft, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of Arizona.
Jefferson slipped a bit in the eyes of some, with several placing him near the tail end of the lottery or the later teens. He could be something of a defensive stopgap for injured guard Wesley Matthews on the wing, should Matthews not return early in the year or even sign elsewhere in free agency. Hollis-Jefferson appears to have some NBA readiness as a defender already, with a huge 7’2 wingspan on a 6’7 body that makes him as lengthy as any wing-defender in the league.
He’s probably also capable of shifting to power forward for periods in small lineups, defensively at least. Whether or not he can provide the sort of floor spacing one might hope for from a small-ball player is up for debate, as Hollis-Jefferson shot just 20 percent from deep last season for the Wildcats. A 70 percent showing from the free-throw line isn’t much more encouraging either, and Hollis-Jefferson could need a major improvement here to be a valuable offensive player in the NBA. He’s a bit lacking as a shot creator also, and certainly won’t be a top option for the Trail Blazers.
But if he puts enough together on that end to stay on the floor, he’ll be an absolute menace. His potential defensively is as high as nearly anyone else in the class, with the foot speed to check smaller guys and the size and length to contest against bigs.
*Update: Per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, Portland has traded Hollis-Jefferson and Steve Blake to the Brooklyn Nets for Mason Plumlee and second-rounder Pat Connaughton.
