The surprising improvement of Pat Connaughton this season

From barely staying on the team to earning big-time minutes, Pat Connaughton is making his mark on Rip City.

The conundrum of guards for the Portland Trail Blazers has been uniquely interesting the past few seasons. Damian Lillard had Wesley Matthews as his two-guard up until 2015. One of the best “3-and-D” players in the league, Matthews went to Dallas for a maximum contract, leaving a major hole to be filled in Portland.

Luckily, CJ McCollum has developed phenomenally under head coach Terry Stotts, and he continues to exceed expectations offensively.

Failed guard reserves

The reserves behing he and Lillard were not quite as successful, however. Tim Frazier and Brian Roberts backed up Lillard for half of 2015-16 each. Neither were quite what Portland was looking for, but Shabazz Napier looks like the key backup of the future (if the Blazers can retain him).

That same season Matthews left, Pat Connaughton was a rookie, and a second round pick at that. Stotts and the Blazers typically let rookies “ride the bench” and develop their game behind the scenes before assuming a bigger role.

Gerald Henderson was acquired via trade and was able to bring some veteran insight to the young team. However, he also wasn’t energetic enough off the bench for Portland and left for Philadelphia after just one season.

Then, there was the Allen Crabbe situation.

Another second round selection, Crabbe was the most consistent bench guard for the Blazers from 2015-2017. Even though his production stayed the same in both seasons (about ten points per game average), his three-point field goal percentage was top in the league in 2016-17.

His length defensively also made him one of the better defenders on a very poor defensive team.

Unfortunately, the Blazers had no choice but to match the Nets’ max contract offer to Crabbe, putting Portland’s payroll on life alert. All of these dominos falling have made way for a certain someone to step up for this young squad.

“Patty McFastball” almost had to go back to his baseball roots

It seems like it was just yesterday Connaughton’s future with the team was unknown. The deadline to accept the team option on his contract was extended for over a month by the Blazers front office.

This was likely for two reasons.

The first was to buy general manager Neil Olshey more time to figure out what to do with Crabbe and Evan Turner, who also has a huge contract. The second reason is because of how expendable Pat Connaughton was at that time. Was it even worth it for the team to pick up his option?

He had played in just 34 games his rookie year and 39 the following season. He averaged 4.2 minutes and 8.1 minutes per game for each season, respectively.

His career-high in points was 19 (occurring during the final regular season game of last season), and he was a liability on defense.

A decision on Crabbe was made, though, and he was traded to the Nets. This made the reserve two-guard spot available for Connaughton, and Olshey couldn’t say no to the low salary for the third-year guard. The coaching staff realized more minutes for Connaughton would be the only way to get improvement out of him.

The surprising rise of Connaughton

That’s what the team tried to do during the 2017 Summer League.

Connaughton struggled mightily, though. He was held scoreless in the first game, and sat out the remainder after injuring his hamstring two games later. Even against lower competition, Pat Connaughton couldn’t get his offense going.

Things weren’t looking great for Connaughton, or the Blazers bench, so Rip City began to worry.

Then, on opening night of the 2017-18 season, Connaughton dropped a new career-high 24 points in a blowout win over the Phoenix Suns. He was the first player off the bench for Portland, and got increased time with McCollum out due to suspension.

The improvement was noticed by Blazers staff – before this year, he had one career start. So far this season, Connaughton has five.

Next: Blazers beat Suns for third time this season

Thus far in 2017-18, Pat Connaughton is 8th on the team in minutes per game (20) and points per game (6.6). He is also sixth in assists per game (1.3) and field goal percentage (45.8%). He’s better in nearly every statistical category, and tripled his scoring output from last season. Talk about stepping up big time.

Connaughton’s future

Now, Connaughton has become a great reserve option for the Blazers. Combined with Napier, they form the best least-talked about reserve backcourt in the league.

Obviously, Connaughton put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes this offseason. Stotts’ development plan seems to be working well yet again as everything is clicking with him. It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, as this Blazer team needs all the help and scoring options it can get.

Call it a mediocre rise on a mediocre team. Or, call it an important come-up by a second round pick on a playoff team. Either way, Connaughton’s play this season has surprised us all. Hopefully, this level of play will be consistent for him. If that’s the case, Connaughton could end that dreaded reserve-guard-curse for Portland.