Portland Trail Blazers trade rumors 2016: Meyers Leonard vital to the team

Now entering the fifth year of his professional career, much is expected from the Portland Trail Blazers' Meyers Leonard.

Picked 11th overall in the 2012 draft, the center has yet to fulfill his potential, and many are hoping that he can finally pick up the pace now that he has signed a new deal with the team.

In July, Leonard signed a new multi-year contract with the Blazers, with him pocketing around $9.2 million in the coming season with slight increments due to the $41-million deal through 2019–20.

Many question his bloated contract as he has yet to average more than 10 points a game, with his 2015–16 averages serving as his career bests at 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in a little under 22 minutes per game.

SB Nation mentioned that many Blazers fans are hoping that Leonard will finally break through this year and be consistent with his efficiency near the rim.

To say that Leonard is inconsistent is an understatement as he has shown that he can be quite efficient. In his rookie year, he averaged around 55 percent from the field, but only averaged four shots per game more or less.

In his sophomore effort, his minutes dropped as well as his field goal count as he averaged 45 percent.

When he came back in the third year, he went above 50 percent again as he averaged similar numbers when he did in his rookie season, but last year he dropped off to his worst shooting as he shot under 45 percent from the field in seven shots per game.

For a big man, this is definitely worrying, but Leonard has shown signs that he can do it, and now, at 24 years old, he has hopefully matured enough to be consistently above 50 percent.

Finally, Leonard's appearance on the floor should hopefully help the team in their spacing as it would allow their better players like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to operate on the wings.

Leonard may not have the star numbers, but his presence is sorely needed by the Blazers for the coming season.