The Portland Trail Blazers are a little bit thin at the four. Skal Labissiere is on the roster right now as a true four. Mario Hezonja can play there (about a third of his minutes with the Knicks last season were as a power forward). Jake Layman, if he returns, is like Hezonja in that he can play there in small lineups, and after that it’s forcing a three to play the four such as Rodney Hood.
Enter veteran Anthony Tolliver.
The stretch four has signed with the Trail Blazers, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Free agent forward Anthony Tolliver has agreed to a one-year, $2.6M deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Tolliver will provide a high-level shooting rotation big.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2019
This is a smart, quality signing by Neil Olshey in Portland.
Tolliver gave an unstable Portland roster more than 16 minutes a night and shot 37.7 percent from three. He can still defend well enough at age 34 and is a great locker room presence. Tolliver is going to fit in smoothly in Portland.
After making the conference finals last season, expectations and hopes are up in Portland heading into next season. It’s a lot of pressure in a West that has seen several teams improve and promises to be very deep. Again. Tolliver is the kind of rock-solid signing that can help handle that pressure.