Portland Trail Blazers: How will Seth Curry fit in next year?

How he fits

Seth Curry will fit in perfectly as a reliable scoring and playmaking option off of the bench. It’s something the Blazers sorely need, as they finished 2018 averaging the third-fewest bench points in the NBA. Curry’s new role was filled by Shabazz Napier last season. The difference is that Curry will be a major upgrade from him on the offensive end.

According to Synergy Sports, Curry generated 1.09 points per possession in 2016-17. By contrast, Napier scored 0.95 points per possession in 2017-18. Curry ranks in at least the 80th percentile in every offensive play-type that took up at least five percent of his possessions in 2017.

Curry’s biggest advantages over Napier come on isolation plays and in transition. Napier produced just 0.6 points per possession on isolations last year, putting him in the 12th percentile. Curry scored 1.09 points per possession on those same plays.

In transition, Curry produced 1.28 points per possession (82nd percentile) to Napier’s 1.05 (41st). This could help the Blazers increase their overall tempo. Portland averaged 1.02 points per possession in transition, second-fewest in the NBA. This contributed to the Blazers playing the 12th-slowest pace in the league last year.

The Blazers are even getting a very slight improvement on the defensive end. Curry allowed 0.908 points per possession in 2017 while Napier conceded 0.911 last year. However, rounding to the nearest hundredth shows the difference is almost negligible, and both players fell into the 52nd percentile their respective seasons.