Portland Trail Blazers Summer League invitees were hard at work in Tualatin on Wednesday. Only a handful of them are guaranteed to be on the Trail Blazers’ roster for the 2015-16 NBA season. Among the most promising hopefuls were Keith Bogans and Tim Frazier. Bogans, 35, took last season off to whip his body into playing shape, while Frazier, 24, hopes to turn his non-guaranteed contract with Portland into a sure thing. We caught up with both of them after drills.
Bogans looks to be in fantastic shape, as his hiatus from basketball served as an extended training period. He is eager to get back on the court and help in any way he can. It was difficult for him to stay away from the game, and the Trail Blazers appealed to him as a young team to aid, if only for the summer—but possibly beyond.
"What do you find most attractive about this Trail Blazers team?Well, they’re young. It’s crazy. I went home from Boston which was a young team. I guess they felt like I didn’t want to help with the young guys and that wasn’t the case. Here I think they see what I can bring to the table, as far as off the court and on the court, that I can help these young guys out.Which one of these young guys has made you work the hardest on the court?I like Tim [Frazier], Pat [Connaughton], all of them. They’re trying to let me know, ‘we want what you’ve been doing for the past 11 years’ and they’re making it obvious. They see me bend over and grab my knees, they’re coming after me. I’m having fun with it, and I told them, ‘If I can keep up with y’all, y’all 10 years younger than me, then I know I’m good.’ I just keep telling them that every day."
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Frazier, specifically mentioned by Bogans, has been working on his game this off-season. He has really improved his control over the flow of the game as a facilitator. Not only that, he has been working on his 3-point stroke, after shooting 33.3 percent from deep in limited minutes last season. Both skills could help him fit well in the Trail Blazers’ system if he makes the team this fall.
"With all the hard work you’ve been putting in, which aspect of your game do you think has seen the most improvement since last season?I think my pace for sure, and even the outside shot. I spent a lot of time working on knocking down threes. The only thing to do to get better at knocking down threes is to put up repetitions, and I’ve been doing that as well. Hopefully that’s going to show off in Summer League."
Frazier is trying to learn as much as he can from teammate Damian Lillard, who helped with Wednesday’s practice despite his absence from the Summer League roster. Over the course of the summer, Frazier and Lillard have spent a lot of time together both on and off the court.
"I’ve been trying to be a brother to [Damian] as much as possible. We talk, we work out, anything he needs—I’m there for him. If it’s carry bags [laughs] or if it’s helping out with anything, I’m there for him."
The Trail Blazers have one more practice before leaving for Las Vegas. Summer League begins July 10 and the Trail Blazers’ first preliminary matchup is July 11 against the Boston Celtics. Performances will determine which players receive invites to training camp, and possibly contracts for the 2015-16 NBA season.
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