Benching Enes Kanter for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson? 'It's Kind of Obvious'

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made a strong case for regular minutes after replacing Enes Kanter in Game 3.

Terry Stotts no doubt saw all he needed to see in the first half. Jusuf Nurkic's extended third-quarter stint confirmed it, and he even suggested as much after the game.

But it wasn't until Enes Kanter got outmuscled on the glass and committed an ugly flagrant foul on Nikola Jokic that Stotts finally made a switch at backup center. At least Kanter didn't have the opportunity to do more extensive damage; he was mothballed for good following less than a minute of game time just before the fourth quarter.

That's not the first time Kanter, who fashions himself as the NBA's strongest player, has been strong-armed by Jokic fighting for rebounding position.

Portland's defensive rebounding rate with Kanter on the floor in the first round is an unacceptable 51.5 percent, per NBA.com/stats. It's reductive to suggest Denver owning the offensive glass is Kanter's fault alone. Rebounding, especially in the playoffs, is a team effort.

But possessions like this are impossible to ignore, and make Kanter's widespread deficiencies elsewhere even more difficult for the Blazers to paper over when Jusuf Nurkic needs a blow – or is forced to the bench by foul trouble.

The good news for Portland is that Kanter's play in Game 3 forced Stotts' hand. He basically had no other option but to go with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at small-ball center for the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters – not with Nurkic on the bench.

Stotts insisted after Game 3 that he hadn't considered replacing Kanter in the rotation with Hollis-Jefferson, but certainly didn't rule out the change, either. 

"I havent thought about that, but I thought Rondae played well," he said, "so I have no qualms about putting him in in Game 4."

Stotts, though in few words, revealed more when asked to elaborate on the justification for Kanter's benching.

"It's kind of obvious," he said

Hollis-Jefferson, amazingly, didn't garner a single individual box-score statistic in his nearly five minutes of court time. His +1 plus-minus over that timeframe, obviously, came during too small a sample size to render it a harbinger of team-wide success to come.

Don't be fooled by the numbers, though. Anyone watching Game 3 knows not just the jolt of energy Hollis-Jefferson's presence provided to an already amped-up Moda Center crowd, but how his subtle two-way impact could be sustainable moving forward.

Hollis-Jefferson drew an offensive foul on his very first possession of playoff action, fighting through Shaq Harrison's off-ball flare screen for JaMychal Green as Jokic attacked a switch from the nail.

Mission accomplished, Hollis-Jefferson spent the last 30 seconds of the third quarter on the bench, subbed out by Carmelo Anthony for offense. But he was back for the start of the fourth, boxing out Green to help Portland secure a defensive rebound then making a slick pass to the wing after catching on the roll. 

Hockey assists aren't tracked in traditional box scores and Anfernee Simons misfires here, but this wide-open corner three from an elite long-range shooter is courtesy of Hollis-Jefferson more than anyone else.

A few possessions later, he saved Anthony from getting burned by rotating over from the weakside for a perfect verticality contest on Monte Morris.

Kanter isn't making that play, nor the no-look pass to the wing that got Simons a clean look at three or the extra effort play that drew an offensive foul on Harrison.

He's definitely not compensating for any miscommunication on defense, still plaguing Portland to a frustrating degree, with a hasty close-out to the arc like this, either.

Robert Covington should be switching that staggered off-ball screen for Michael Porter Jr., by the way – maybe the biggest reason why benching Kanter for Hollis-Jefferson makes sense.

It hasn't just been Jokic abusing Kanter, but the Nuggets' second unit. Whether he's late contesting a pick-and-pop three from Green or getting roasted by Morris after a switch, Kanter has been imminently exploitable defensively during minutes the Blazers have to win considering the borderline unstoppable nature of Jokic's play thus far.

But switching across five positions against Denver reserve units with Hollis-Jefferson at center? Size mismatch post-ups from role players like Green or Millsap, or even Anthony being targeted in isolation are far more manageable propositions for Portland defensively than any that involve Kanter.

It's not like Kanter has given the Blazers a boost with his scoring punch, either. He's just 2-of-6 for the series overall, bothered by Jokic's length on putbacks and not being utilized as a post-up option against Millsap or Green.

The problem, of course, is that cutting Kanter from the rotation entirely means Nurkic needs to match every single second of Jokic's playing time – lest Portland be forced out of its decision to single-cover the presumptive MVP. It's foolish to expect Nurkic to prove up to that task; he's too foul-prone and not as well-conditioned as Jokic. 

If Kanter gets benched, the Blazers must double-team Jokic – it's basically a sure layup otherwise. But throwing extra attention at the best passing big man ever might be just as inevitable, as these consecutive crunch-time possessions make depressingly clear.

Then again, it just can't get much worse for Portland either way when it comes to Kanter's negative influence on defnese.

His laughable 144.1 defensive rating in the playoffs is actually slightly better than his defensive rating with Jokic on the floor, per NBA.com/stats. The eye test isn't lying about Jokic's eyes lighting up when Kanter comes in the game, though. He's shooting a whopping 76.9 percent from the field when they share the floor, 25 percent better than when Kanter is on the bench.

Stotts was asked again on Friday if he'd given more consideration to slotting Hollis-Jefferson into the rotation. Though just as non-commital as the night before, Stotts admitted to pondering the switch – and perhaps telegraphed Portland's most significant strategic tweak of this series.

"Look, Enes has had a fantastic year for us and we need him, and I thought Rondae was good last night," he said. "Leave it at that."

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