Portland Trail Blazers: 2017-18 player grades for Shabazz Napier

Shabazz Napier had a career season in his second year with the Portland Trail Blazers. How do we assess his success in relation to the team and his future?

Shabazz Napier spent his first season with the Portland Trail Blazers as a benchwarmer. The 512 minutes he logged in 2016-17 were the fewest in a season in his young career. He stated in his exit interview following that season that he wasn’t comfortable with the role and vowed to improve as a player.

That dedication showed as Napier had a banner year in 2017-18. He played a career-high 1,535 minutes as Portland’s backup point guard. In fact, Bazz had career-highs in every major counting stat and almost every statistical average. He netted 8.7 points on 42.0 percent shooting, 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

This production was somewhat foreseeable. Napier’s 2017-18 numbers per 36 minutes were almost identical to last year’s. All he needed was the right role to showcase his abilities.

In 2016-17, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals per 36 minutes. This season, he averaged 15.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per 36 minutes.

Heading into this season, Napier wanted to prove he could be a major role player for a competing team. He did exactly that in 2017-18. Here’s a look back on his season.