Welcome to Portland Nassir Little

[Norm2953]

Very likely, he’ll be with Simons key members of Portland second unit this season

[d-train]

Very likely, he’ll be with Simons key members of Portland second unit this season

It's not likely either of them will be in the rotation. They have an opportunity to prove themselves. We will see how much of an opportunity they earn.

[BlazersBroncos]

It's not likely either of them will be in the rotation. They have an opportunity to prove themselves. We will see how much of an opportunity they earn.

I think Simons is very likely to be in the rotation. We are not going to afford Curry, and having to use the MLE on our own guys we will only have vet min options at guard. Simons basically has to be in the rotation. Likely we sign a vet min backup as a fallback if he isn't ready, someone who wont whine if they don't get minutes would be ideal. Tim Frazier seems like a quality option.

Simons surprised me in how much he looked like a PG with the ball in his hands, albeit the sample size was limited. I think he can be a 15mpg type next season. Something like the below should work at PG:

PG - Damian Lillard (32) / Anfernee Simons (16) / Tim Frazier

I would really like to see this team reduce Damian's minutes from 35/36 to around 32. We need him fresh for the playoffs and saw him deal with some nagging injuries after that OKC series.

[d-train]

It's not likely either of them will be in the rotation. They have an opportunity to prove themselves. We will see how much of an opportunity they earn.

I think Simons is very likely to be in the rotation. We are not going to afford Curry, and having to use the MLE on our own guys we will only have vet min options at guard. Simons basically has to be in the rotation. Likely we sign a vet min backup as a fallback if he isn't ready, someone who wont whine if they don't get minutes would be ideal. Tim Frazier seems like a quality option.

Simons surprised me in how much he looked like a PG with the ball in his hands, albeit the sample size was limited. I think he can be a 15mpg type next season. Something like the below should work at PG:

PG - Damian Lillard (32) / Anfernee Simons (16) / Tim Frazier

I would really like to see this team reduce Damian's minutes from 35/36 to around 32. We need him fresh for the playoffs and saw him deal with some nagging injuries after that OKC series.

The nice things Olshey said about him bodes well for him.

You are assuming Simons won't have steep competition. I wouldn't be so sure of this. We will see. It would be easy for Olshey to not sign any backup rotation guards if he thinks Simons has us covered.

[zzaj]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

Right now he's not going to be able to guard NBA SFs, nor PFs...regardless of what Olshey says. He was good enough to crack UNC's bench rotation, so he's at least a year away from being able to crack an NBA rotation--especially on a good team.

We're going to need a lot of patience. Wiz's mention of Joe Alexander might be a good one, except that Little is probably less athletic or talented right now.

[d-train]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

Right now he's not going to be able to guard NBA SFs, nor PFs...regardless of what Olshey says. He was good enough to crack UNC's bench rotation, so he's at least a year away from being able to crack an NBA rotation--especially on a good team.

We're going to need a lot of patience. Wiz's mention of Joe Alexander might be a good one, except that Little is probably less athletic or talented right now.

I'm not contesting the main points of your post, but on the issue of his role at UNC. I don't think his limited minutes had anything at all to do with him. He joined an already established good college team that didn't need his still set. If UNC had 2 great established guards and a hole at forward, Little might have got the minutes and big role while White sat on the bench waiting his turn. It was easy for White to fit right in when the team needed everything he does well.

[Norm2953]

Little would have been a reach in the lottery but at 25, he's a steal.

Physically, I think he fits more into the Ruben Patterson role for he had a 10 year NBA career
despite his off the court problems. Little will never be a big scorer but his physical tools
and Portland's roster needs suggest he'll play in limited roles on the second team.

[Wizenheimer]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

he was weighed as 225 though and that's solid enough to defend SF's. He is 2.75 inches shorter than Harkless, but his wingspan is 1.25 inches longer.

* He's the same height as Jae Crowder with a 10 pound advantage in weight and a 4 inch advantage in wingspan
* He's only 1.25 inches shorter than Draymond Green
* more than 20 pounds heavier than Kentavious Caldwell Pope with a 6 inch advantage in wingspan
* ten pounds bigger than Joe Harris with a 7 inch wingspan advantage
* same height as Devin Booker with a 20 pound weight advantage and a 5 inch wingspan advantage
* one inch shorter than Rondae Hollis Jefferson with a 10 pound weight advantage and same wingspan
* same height as Justice Winslow with a 3 ich wingspan advantage

the point of all that being that yes, he's a little shorter than an average SF, but when you combine the factors of height, length, and mass, he's not really undersized for an NBA SF...and he's young enough to have an expectation for actual physical growth

[Fitz303]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

Right now he's not going to be able to guard NBA SFs, nor PFs...regardless of what Olshey says. He was good enough to crack UNC's bench rotation, so he's at least a year away from being able to crack an NBA rotation--especially on a good team.

We're going to need a lot of patience. Wiz's mention of Joe Alexander might be a good one, except that Little is probably less athletic or talented right now.

Who thinks his best position is PF? I haven't heard anyone say that. He played PF at UNC last year, but his position at the NBA will be SF.

I don't really like the Gerald Wallace comparison anyway, as Gerald was another level of athlete to Little. Little can get up with his long arms, but prime Crash was a different animal. I do think that Little will be a much better shooter in the NBA than Wallace was. I think you're going to see a very reliable shooter in Little. It may take a year or 2, but he'll be an above 35% 3pt shooter IMO.

Again, the player that I keep going back to is Jaylen Brown. Very similar freshman years, very similar measurements, similar verticals, similar strengths and weaknesses

Tell me this isn't an almost exact copy of everything Nassir Little

Watch on YouTube

[d-train]

When I first started watching basketball there used to be enforcers. Enforcers were tough guys that nobody wanted to mess with. Most of these tough guys were around 6"5" and 230 pounds. It was more important to be mean and scary than tall.

[d-train]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

Right now he's not going to be able to guard NBA SFs, nor PFs...regardless of what Olshey says. He was good enough to crack UNC's bench rotation, so he's at least a year away from being able to crack an NBA rotation--especially on a good team.

We're going to need a lot of patience. Wiz's mention of Joe Alexander might be a good one, except that Little is probably less athletic or talented right now.

Who thinks his best position is PF? I haven't heard anyone say that. He played PF at UNC last year, but his position at the NBA will be SF.

I don't really like the Gerald Wallace comparison anyway, as Gerald was another level of athlete to Little. Little can get up with his long arms, but prime Crash was a different animal. I do think that Little will be a much better shooter in the NBA than Wallace was. I think you're going to see a very reliable shooter in Little. It may take a year or 2, but he'll be an above 35% 3pt shooter IMO.

Again, the player that I keep going back to is Jaylen Brown. Very similar freshman years, very similar measurements, similar verticals, similar strengths and weaknesses

Tell me this isn't an almost exact copy of everything Nassir Little

Watch on YouTube

Gerald Wallace excelled in the open court. Supposedly, Little struggled at UNC in the open court. He might be better suited for the NBA style where teams shutdown the open court and force a half court offensive game.

[Shem]

Watch on YouTube

[zzaj]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

Right now he's not going to be able to guard NBA SFs, nor PFs...regardless of what Olshey says. He was good enough to crack UNC's bench rotation, so he's at least a year away from being able to crack an NBA rotation--especially on a good team.

We're going to need a lot of patience. Wiz's mention of Joe Alexander might be a good one, except that Little is probably less athletic or talented right now.

Who thinks his best position is PF? I haven't heard anyone say that. He played PF at UNC last year, but his position at the NBA will be SF.

I don't really like the Gerald Wallace comparison anyway, as Gerald was another level of athlete to Little. Little can get up with his long arms, but prime Crash was a different animal. I do think that Little will be a much better shooter in the NBA than Wallace was. I think you're going to see a very reliable shooter in Little. It may take a year or 2, but he'll be an above 35% 3pt shooter IMO.

Again, the player that I keep going back to is Jaylen Brown. Very similar freshman years, very similar measurements, similar verticals, similar strengths and weaknesses

Tell me this isn't an almost exact copy of everything Nassir Little

Watch on YouTube

If you listen to any of the NBA draft podcasts, Ross Homan, Mike Gribanov, Johnathan Givony, Mike Schmitz, Sam Vecenie, Kevin O'Conner, Danny Chau, Johnathan Tjarks, all supposed "draft gurus", have weighed in on Little. Now, IMO we should take any "guru" with a grain of salt, but each of them pretty consistently predicted Little's slide on draft day. Each one has also said that right now Little's best position might be as a small-ball 4, because of lack of perimeter ball handling skills, lack of a consistent outside shot, land lack of really any kind of feel for the NBA game.

That last one is really the key in the comparison with Jaylen Brown. JB had some similar "feel" issues and quite a bit of un-functional athleticism as well, but he was ahead of Little in terms of being able to play in a system.

I'll be rooting for Little big time, and have my fingers crossed that he ends up in the Jaylen Brown mold, but I remain pretty doubtful that he'll ever have the impact of Jaylen in his second year. I've said it a bunch, but in Little I see a slightly better shooting, Alonzo Gee.

[USER0023942]

I think people are forgetting that Little measured like 6'4.75" without shoes and 6'6" in shoes. Considering, many think his best position may be PF due to lack of ballhandling and potential stretch range, it's silly to be comparing him to Wallace who was 6'7", or Harkless who is 6'8", or Kawhi who is 6'7" with a couple inches bigger wingspan. His athleticism is getting pretty overrated here too...

Right now he's not going to be able to guard NBA SFs, nor PFs...regardless of what Olshey says. He was good enough to crack UNC's bench rotation, so he's at least a year away from being able to crack an NBA rotation--especially on a good team.

We're going to need a lot of patience. Wiz's mention of Joe Alexander might be a good one, except that Little is probably less athletic or talented right now.

Who thinks his best position is PF? I haven't heard anyone say that. He played PF at UNC last year, but his position at the NBA will be SF.

I don't really like the Gerald Wallace comparison anyway, as Gerald was another level of athlete to Little. Little can get up with his long arms, but prime Crash was a different animal. I do think that Little will be a much better shooter in the NBA than Wallace was. I think you're going to see a very reliable shooter in Little. It may take a year or 2, but he'll be an above 35% 3pt shooter IMO.

Again, the player that I keep going back to is Jaylen Brown. Very similar freshman years, very similar measurements, similar verticals, similar strengths and weaknesses

Tell me this isn't an almost exact copy of everything Nassir Little

Watch on YouTube

If you listen to any of the NBA draft podcasts, Ross Homan, Mike Gribanov, Johnathan Givony, Mike Schmitz, Sam Vecenie, Kevin O'Conner, Danny Chau, Johnathan Tjarks, all supposed "draft gurus", have weighed in on Little. Now, IMO we should take any "guru" with a grain of salt, but each of them pretty consistently predicted Little's slide on draft day. Each one has also said that right now Little's best position might be as a small-ball 4, because of lack of perimeter ball handling skills, lack of a consistent outside shot, land lack of really any kind of feel for the NBA game.

That last one is really the key in the comparison with Jaylen Brown. JB had some similar "feel" issues and quite a bit of un-functional athleticism as well, but he was ahead of Little in terms of being able to play in a system.

I'll be rooting for Little big time, and have my fingers crossed that he ends up in the Jaylen Brown mold, but I remain pretty doubtful that he'll ever have the impact of Jaylen in his second year. I've said it a bunch, but in Little I see a slightly better shooting, Alonzo Gee.

Gee was a 10/5 guy for several seasons around the time he was 25-28 years old. If Little is a better shooter and has a 3 year jump on him age-wise, it would still be a decent #25 pick even by those conservative standards.

[BlazersBroncos]

Gee may be his floor, but its worth noting that traditionally guys that struggle with their 3PT in college are able to develop a shot if they have a good FT%.

Little was 77% last season, Gee topped out at 67% as a Junior.

I do think that the Gerald Wallace comparisons are pretty liberal. Little may be a great athlete, but Wallace was on another level. He had seasons where he averaged nearly 4+ combined steals/blocks per game. The chances of Little pulling that off are very low.

Little is also a much better shooting prospect than Wallace, who was 17% and 58% from 3PT and FT as a Freshman.

[pootbrah]

Was genuinely pissed off we passed on Bol Bol for him haha but then he drops 19 more picks anyway so can't be too annoyed and Little seems pretty damn talented. Wasn't quite the same feeling as passing on Faried for Nolan Smith

[HoopsFanAZ]

I have no reason to question Little’s value at 25. That he went there suggests he has plenty to work on, and reports suggest he’ll do just that. Is he driven? If so, buckle up.

Collins, Little, and Simons — a heckuva investment in youth with every reason for hope.

[Sinobas]

Love his intensity and defensive instincts, if nothing else. Reminds me a lot of a very raw Aminu. Hopefully Dame and CJs 3 PT shooting will rub off on him and we could have something interesting.

A very raw aminu? You should change your name to saltpeter.

[Pattycakes]

Love his intensity and defensive instincts, if nothing else. Reminds me a lot of a very raw Aminu. Hopefully Dame and CJs 3 PT shooting will rub off on him and we could have something interesting.

A very raw aminu? You should change your name to saltpeter.

Don't know the reference but I'd take that comparison to the betting table. He has the calm channeled intensity, wingspan, lack of ball handling and ability to excel with an obvious need for growth - all traits Amimu has displayed his entire career.