Training camp and preseason serve as an audition of sorts for players on the fringe of making the 15-man roster. The Portland Trail Blazers have three non-guaranteed contracts that they'll have to decide on before the start of the season: Vit Krejci (partially guaranteed for $250,000), Micah Potter, and Jeremy Sochan.
Krejci is seemingly all but a lock to make the roster, considering Portland gave up actual draft capital to land him at last year's trade deadline.
Potter is already off to a strong preseason, looking the part of a stretch four that the Blazers missed from last season.
Meanwhile, Sochan is the one who's seemingly the most fringe roster spot.
Jeremy Sochan is proving he belongs on the Blazers' roster
Potter was waived by the Indiana Pacers and claimed by the Blazers, meaning they still had his non-guaranteed contract. Then the expectation was Portland would bring in offseason competition for Potter, hence the decision to give Sochan an extended audition.
But if the Blazers want, they could keep all three of Krejci, Potter, and Sochan on their 15-man roster heading into the season. Sure they'd be thin at wing depth, but Portland has confidence in their existing group of wings. Plus, the added versatility that comes from Jrue Holiday, who is expected to play more forward this season.
Most significantly, Sochan is making a strong case himself for that final roster spot. The most notable and recent example was Portland's first preseason action, a 123-118 win over the Golden State Warriors.
In just nine minutes of limited action, Sochan made the most of his opportunity, finishing with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Blazers fans should temper expectations regarding Sochan's floor spacing ability. He's a career 28.6 percent three-point shooter, which unfortunately is a much more accurate sample size than these two makes on Wednesday. Still, Sochan's strong performance did serve as a reminder that he has untapped potential worth investing in for the Blazers.
You could already get a sense of his ability to make an immediate impact, particularly helping maintain the Blazers' defensive identity after a guard-heavy offseason. But there's also the fact that Sochan is just 23 and a former top-ten draft selection by the San Antonio Spurs in 2022. It's hard to find that blend of immediate impact and upside for a player at the end of the bench, meaning it's worth any potential roster positional imbalance to give the remaining roster spot to Sochan.
His next opportunity to strengthen his case comes Monday, October 12 against the London Lions. Even if the shooting regresses, hopefully Sochan can continue to prove his value in these remaining preseason games for Portland.
Add us as a preferred source on Google