The Portland Trail Blazers have fully committed to rebuilding through a colossal youth movement. Portland parted ways with both Deandre Ayton and Anfernee Simons during the 2025 offseason, thus clearing the path for the up-and-comers to take center stage in 2025-26.
One of the forgotten members of the promising young core is already taking advantage of the opportunity to potentially secure more playing time by thriving at Summer League: Rayan Rupert.
The Trail Blazers selected Rupert at No. 43 overall at the 2023 NBA Draft. In the two seasons since, he's appeared in 91 games in the Association. He's also spent considerable time with Portland's G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix.
Rupert has showcased intriguing potential, but up to this point his career, his erratic shooting has greatly limited his playing time.
Thankfully, it only took one 2025 Las Vegas Summer League game for Rupert to reveal how far his shot has come. He not only buried two three-point field goals, but turned an extraordinarily high volume of free throw attempts into a showcase of his progress.
Only time will tell if this newfound ability will translate to the NBA, but the Trail Blazers have every reason to be intrigued by the 21-year-old's progress.
Rayan Rupert showing clear signs of progress as a shooter
Rupert, a 6'6" wing with a 7'2" wingspan, finished the 2024-25 G League season with averages of 18.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per game on 49.7 percent shooting from the field. Unfortunately, he shot just 22.9 percent from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent at the free-throw line.
Rupert also shot 27.1 percent from beyond the arc in the NBA in 2024-25—a disappointing development from a player who'd converted 35.9 percent of his attempts as a rookie.
Thankfully, Rupert righted the ship during his Las Vegas Summer League debut. He went off to the tune of 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals, shooting 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 11-of-11 at the charity stripe.
The three-point shooting is admittedly limited in the sample size, but 11 free throws all going in certainly imply that work has been done to rectify a longstanding issue.
Furthermore, Rupert utilized his length to great effect, enabling him to turn defense into offense on multiple occasions. He also dominated the glass with nine boards in just 23 minutes—which also adds perspective to his scoring dominance.
A physically overwhelming wing who continues to put on muscle and make himself more difficult to stop on the drive, Rupert could realistically secure consistent minutes in 2025-26.
The key will be improving his catch-and-shoot efficiency, thus enabling him to play a complementary role. There's clearly upside as a scorer and playmaker, but the Trail Blazers won't be featuring him immediately—thus making his 29.5 percent shooting on catch-and-shoot threes a massive cause for concern.
Thankfully, Rupert appears to be putting in the work to fix what has become the primarily flaw preventing him from playing meaningful NBA minutes.