Sidy Cissoko
Cissoko looks like a hustle-and-defense reserve on a Portland team that Nori has said will play 10 deep, and he is a rotation piece, not a featured scorer.
Role
Per Jason Quick of The Athletic, as relayed by Blazers Edge (about 3 days before this search), Nori intends to play 10 early in the season. The starters are Lillard, Morant, Camara, Avdija and Clingan. Holiday, Henderson and Williams are the first reserves, and Cissoko is projected as the ninth player. The 10th spot rotates among Krejci, Potter and Carlson. No minutes or usage figure for this season has been reported. Last season's coverage (Yahoo/SI, camp preview) had him at 19.1 minutes a game, with 26 starts. Sochan is the other backup-forward candidate, and SI listed him on a camp deal. I did not confirm whether he is on the roster now. Our own card line (2 GP, 102 MIN) does not match the 75 games reported elsewhere, so I use no figures from it.
Nori praised his rebounding, screening and off-ball work and said he will find plenty of opportunity this season (Portland Trail Blazers On SI via Yahoo, about 12 days before this search). Camp coverage said Shaedon Sharpe's knee injury opens true wing minutes that Sochan cannot fill in the same way. He also changed the game in the preseason opener with his energy off the bench, and he has shown he can step into the starting lineup when injuries hit (CBS, last season).
He is a defense-first player with limited offense. He made 29.8 percent of his 198 three-point attempts last season, and coverage says he is not expected to light it up from deep or create for others. The roster is crowded, with a 10-man rotation and Sochan, Potter and Krejci competing for the same fringe minutes. Last season he was a coach's decision DNP in the Play-In (RotoWire, April 15). Ninth in a 10-man rotation leaves little room for counting stats.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether he holds the ninth spot as the backup forward, or whether Sochan, who offers more scoring and playmaking, takes those minutes. The Yahoo/SI camp piece said Nori will most likely never play the two together. The fit argument favors Cissoko, and the offense argument favors Sochan. I found nothing current on how that has played out in regular-season games.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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