With Seth Curry, how much will the Trail Blazers miss Shabazz Napier?

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PORTLAND, OR – JULY 6: Terry Stotts and Neil Olshey of the Portland Trail Blazers introduce Seth Curry and Nik Stauskas to the media during a press conference on July 6, 2018 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Enter: Seth Curry

The answer to this question hinges mostly on how newly acquired guard Seth Curry fits into this Portland team.

For his first two years in the league, Curry was known mostly as the Splash Brother’s other brother, playing a total of four games among three different franchises: the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Phoenix Suns.

And while he missed all of last season due to a fractured left tibia, his 2016-17 season gave reason to be excited about him.

Curry made a name for himself that year with the Dallas Mavericks. Starting in 42 of his 70 games played, he averaged 12.8 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.8 rebounds in 29 minutes per game.

He is a lights-out three-point shooter at 42.5 percent from beyond the arc (must be genetic) and held a higher PER two years ago, 15.5, than Napier did last season.

Seth will probably see less minutes in Portland than he did in Dallas. Still though, he has all the potential to fill in Napier’s role—and perhaps do even more in high-powered offensive lineups.

In 2016-17, he was good for .993 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and 1.133 points per possession as a spot-up shooter—ranking in the 89^th and 82^nd percentiles respectively.

And he did more than just run these actions effectively, as evidenced by The Athletic’s Duncan Smith.

Imagine the lethal combinations Portland now has at their disposal.

One such “death lineup” could include Lillard, Curry, McCollum, Aminu/Harkless, and Nurkic.

And for a truer second-unit look, the Blazers could pair Curry with recently signed Nik Stauskas and maintain a better-spaced floor than Napier could for guys like Zach Collins and albatross Evan Turner.

However, Curry is not a total homerun over Napier.

Statistically, Bazz is the slightly better defensive player. He boasted a higher steal percentage, better defensive rating, and had more defensive win shares than Curry in their most recent seasons.