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Blazers in NBA Rookie Survey, Part III (2015): A look back at young Pat Connaughton

By Matt George Moore

TARRYTOWN, NY - AUGUST 8: Pat Connaughton #5 of the Portland Trail Blazers poses for a portrait during the 2015 NBA rookie photo shoot on August 8, 2015 at the Madison Square Garden Training Facility in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
TARRYTOWN, NY - AUGUST 8: Pat Connaughton #5 of the Portland Trail Blazers poses for a portrait during the 2015 NBA rookie photo shoot on August 8, 2015 at the Madison Square Garden Training Facility in Tarrytown, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Let’s look back at the 2015 NBA Rookie Survey — in which former Portland Trail Blazers player Pat Connaughton gets props from his fellow rooks.

On Wednesday, we examined the 2018 NBA Rookie Survey. We learned that rookies think highly of Portland Trail Blazers ballers Gary Trent Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic.

Then, we followed that up Thursday with the 2012 NBA Rookie Survey, which featured Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard and former Blazer Will Barton.

Next — ya’ll detecting a pattern here? — we went over the 2013 NBA Rookie Survey, which featured youngsters named CJ McCollum and Allen Crabbe.

More from Blazers News

We’re skipping the 2014 NBA Rookie Survey for now because Portland didn’t have any draft picks that year.

However, we will cover that year’s survey in a future installment, since several current and former Blazers were drafted by other teams that year: Noah Vonleh (Charlotte), Jusuf Nurkic (Chicago), Nik Stauskas (Sacramento) and Shabazz Napier (Charlotte).

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Which brings us to 2015. Portland had one pick in that year’s draft, which they used to select Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, whom they promptly traded (along with Steve Blake) to the Brooklyn Nets for Pat Connaughton and Mason Plumlee.

Connaughton, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Notre Dame, was chosen by the Nets in the second round and was the 41st overall pick in 2015. He spent three years in Portland before signing a free agent contract with Milwaukee on August 1.

It might be a good idea to revisit the NBA Rookie Survey voting process as described by John Schuhmann at NBA.com. This is for the 2018 survey, but it’s the same process the league has used each year:

"For the 10th time in the last 12 years, NBA.com sat down with the rookie class at the annual Rookie Photo Shoot at the New York Knicks’ practice facility. This year’s group (of 36) answered seven questions about their class, as well as a few about the current player they most admire and what they’re expecting as they make the jump to the NBA."

And so, without further ado, let’s revisit the 2015 NBA Rookie Survey!

This won’t take long.

2015 NBA Rookie Survey

Question: Which rookie is the most athletic?

Connaughton finished second in this category with 13.9 percent of the vote.

Justin Anderson was first with 27.8 percent.

Next. A conversation with TRILLBLAZIN’s co-founder, Keith Kunis. dark

Question: Which rookie is the best shooter?

Devin Booker got the nod here with an overwhelming 58.8 percent of the vote. Connaughton and R.J. Hunter were tied for (a distant) second with 8.8 percent.

And that’s it for 2015! More to come, so stay tuned.