Portland Trail Blazers: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
By Finn Carlson
Drafting Nassir Little
While Nassir Little was recruited very highly out of high school at Orlando Christian Prep, his freshman year at University of North Carolina was seen as slightly disappointing. Little came off the bench and did not live up to his sky-high expectations.
As an NBA prospect, though, the 19-year-old small forward has the athletic ability to make a difference on any team, despite being too raw to start at UNC.
His game relies on his physical gifts too much to be successful in the NBA just yet. He also needs to improve his shooting, as he shot merely 27 percent from 3-point range his freshman season.
For the Portland Trail Blazers, Little has some serious upside. He brings incredible athleticism and at such a young age. With a year or two to learn under some of his teammates, Little should eventually become a contributing factor.
For example, look at Anfernee Simons, who was also drafted at a young age and needed time to mature. Now, Simons is seen as one of the most valuable assets for the future of the Blazers. Little has the potential to grow into a similar role as well.
The main reason why drafting Little is graded as it is, despite the likeliness that he will not have an instant impact, is because the Blazers took him with the 25th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. It is rare to find someone with such tremendous upside that late in the first round.