Portland Trail Blazers: Shabazz Napier is finally in the role he deserves
After years on the end of the bench, Portland Trail Blazers guard Shabazz Napier has broken into the rotation as a useful backup.
The Portland Trail Blazers have endured a roller coaster season, currently sitting at 16-15 after a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. After starting 13-8, they have lost seven of their last 10 games.
However, several players — Al-Farouq Aminu, Pat Connaughton, Ed Davis — have improved their play since last season. Backup guard Shabazz Napier is another Blazer that has bettered himself.
The fourth-year point guard out of UCONN arrived in Portland via trade in July 2016. But Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and even Evan Turner crowded him out on the depth chart in his first season with the team. Napier only made 53 appearances in 2016-17 and averaged a career-low 9.7 minutes per game.
The fact that Portland brought in the true point guard only to have him ride the bench was unfortunate and frustrating. Head coach Terry Stotts eschewed him for a 2-guard and a point forward when Lillard rested. Meanwhile, Napier averaged career-highs in points (15.3) and steals (2.3) per 36 minutes, emphasizing how good he was in the little time he got on the floor.
But Napier is finally getting a bigger role in his second season with the team. Nowadays, he directly comes off of the bench for Lillard. Rotations are always fluid, but Napier tends to get in the game no later than the beginning of the second quarter.
Napier averages 17.1 minutes per game, the most since his rookie year with the Miami Heat. Those are the 10th-most minutes per game on the team. He ranked 12th in that category last season. Only 25 games into the season, Napier is already 85 minutes away from surpassing the 512 total minutes he played last season.
Much like last season, Napier is making the most of his time in the rotation. He averages 8.0 points per game this year. His shooting splits come out to 50.7 percent shooting from the field, 46.8 percent from 3-point range and 84.2 percent from the free throw line. Napier is also averaging 1.2 steals per game. He holds a Player Efficiency Rating of 18.5 and has already amassed 1.6 Win Shares. All of the afformentioned numbers are career highs.
Additionally, Napier has racked up 1.8 rebounds per game and 10 double-digit scoring games, the most of each since his rookie season.
His best game so far was his 19-point outburst in a Nov. 15 win over the Orlando Magic. He added two assists, three steals and a block to his ledger and went 5-for-5 from 3-point range. Napier also had a solid game in a Dec. 2 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. He scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds, swiped three steals and made two assists in the losing effort.
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Shabazz Napier expressed his frustration with his role in his exit interview at the end of last season. He understood his situation, but did not want to get complacent about it. Since then, he has put in the effort to force Stotts to play him more often. He has not disappointed in his new role.