Blazers post-all-star news: Reath signs, Scoot a rising star, team scouting next KG?

Here's the latest Portland Trail Blazers news after the all-star break, including Duop Reath's long-term deal, Scoot Henderson's Rising Stars performance and Joe Cronin and Mike Schmitz's trip to scout the 2024 NBA Draft's top prospect.

Duop Reath joins Blazers' "young" core

Duop Reath's two-way contract was finally converted to a standard one before the 2024 NBA All-Star festivities began, completing a long, winding road for the Senegalese big man whose basketball career began in Australia.

Reath's new contract is a three-year deal. Per ESPN's Bobby Marks, Portland used $1.95 million of its non-tax mid-level exception to sign him, and the first year is worth five times more than the veteran minimum for players with zero years of service.

Reath played his last two college seasons at LSU before going undrafted in 2018. He then played professionally in Serbia, Australia, China and Lebanon before joining the Blazers' organization.

He's been nothing short of a revelation this year, playing more than 17 minutes a night off the bench for Portland, averaging 8.9 points and 3.8 rebounds on 46/39/74 shooting splits.

Scoot Henderson shows he's one of the NBA's rising stars

It's been an up-and-down rookie season for Scoot (mostly up lately) but he got a chance to show he belongs with some of the league's best young players during the Rising Stars Tournament at all-star weekend.

Henderson scored a team-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and 1-of-2 from deep in Team Tamika's loss to Team Jalen.

He did this against one of the 2024 Rookie of the Year favorites, Chet Holmgren, and the league's second-leading shot blocker Walker Kessler:

For a player whose most significant struggle this season has been finishing at the rim, that's pretty solid.

Cronin, Schmitz scout Alex Sarr in Australia

Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin and Assistant GM Mike Schmitz were spotted in Australia watching big man Alex Sarr, a potential No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft:

Landing Sarr would be an A+ for the Trail Blazers. The 19-year-old is a 7-foot-1 center with a 7-4 wingspan who's one of the best athletes in the 2024 NBA Draft class, regardless of position. He's a dominant defensive player who can guard just about any position on the floor and is one of the most menacing shot blockers and help defenders since Kevin Garnett.

Offensively, he's a work in progress, but his athleticism shines on that end of the floor, and he flashes some legitimate ball handling and shooting skills. The key word there, though, is "flashes."

Still, Sarr's size, length, athleticism and defensive potential are exactly what Cronin and Schmitz should be looking for in a center prospect.