Portland Trail Blazers: Nassir Little flashes potential in rookie season

After falling to the Portland Trail Blazers with the 25th pick, rookie Nassir Little showed flashes of his potential in his first year in the NBA.

As we review every player from the Portland Trail Blazers 2019/20 campaign, we come to rookie Nassir Little. The 20-year-old fell to the Blazers at pick 25, then showed some promise during the regular season.

Little probably didn’t expect to play a role at all this season, but after Zach Collins then Rodney Hood went down injured within six weeks, Little was thrust into the rotation.

It’s tough to look at a player’s statistical output when he only averaged 11 minutes a game, but Little has some nice nuggets to dive deep into.

48 games, 11.9 minutes a game

3.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.3 blocks

55.4 percent from two, 23.7 percent from three, 63.6 percent from the line

43 percent from the field, 47.7 effective field goal percentage, 50.5 true shooting percentage

Though it’s obviously a small sample, his offensive rebounding and finishing around the rim were two clear highlights.

At the rim, he was 64 percent, a strong mark for a rookie. He also took most of his shots from there, showing that he played within himself by mainly taking shots at the rim and from three. He also drew fouls at a strong rate too. The 64 percent doesn’t sound that impressive, but let’s remember that this Blazers team is one of the worst in the league at the rim, so any marks like this make a big difference to the team offense.

As an offensive rebounder, he rated in the 86th and 81st percentiles. Very impressive for a rookie.

As a shooter, his sample is small, but he was more comfortable taking threes above the break than from the corner. He finished the season at 38 percent above the break, but just 18 percent from the corners.

He also took care of the ball in the rookie season, finishing in the 89th percentile in turnovers – per cleaning the glass.

Though he is just six-foot-five, because he has a six-foot-nine wingspan, he can finish well at the rim and clean up his teammate’s misses on the glass.

Defensively, he also used his size well to match up with some of the bigger threes and fours in the NBA. He struggled with defensive reads from time to time, as you can expect of a first-year player, but he didn’t embarrass himself when guarding people like Paul George. You are never going to fully stop guys like George or Jimmy Butler, but to see a rookie not getting embarrassed by these guys is a big step forward.

Little’s shot does need to come on for him to be able to play consistent minutes as a forward in this league, but he has shown enough defensively that if this happens he may be able to become a rotation piece in the NBA.

Another workon is also his vision on offense, though he may never be a creator for others, if he wants to play the three in the NBA, he needs to be able to make smart reads and passes when the opportunity arises.

As an overall, this was a promising season for Little. He can be pleased with the progress he made, and that he got the chance to get on the court to show his wares.