The Portland Trail Blazers fell 109-95 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. The Blazers, playing the second of a back-to-back immediately after spending a week on the road, were exhausted and it showed.

One of the few highlights of Wednesday's game was the play of 27-year-old rookie center Duop Reath. Reath had 16 points in less than 20 minutes of action for the Blazers.

Who is Duop Reath?

Reath was born in South Sudan. His family later moved to Australia where he played soccer and basketball before ultimately choosing to focus on hoops. He played at Lee College plus two seasons at LSU (2016-2018) but went undrafted afterward. Reath went on to play in the Serbian League, the National Basketball League and the Chinese Basketball Association. He also played NBA Summer League with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns and represented Australia in the World Cup.

Reath, one of the Blazers' three two-way players, has been included in the rotation as the backup center to Deandre Ayton in the last three games, after having not appeared in any of the team's first eight contests of the season. The 27-year-old stepped right in and drilled three 3-pointers on his way to 11-points in 14 minutes against the Lakers last week but went scoreless in 10 minutes against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.

With Robert Williams out for the season after knee surgery, Reath has a chance to capture a permanent spot on the second unit.

What he brings to the Blazers

Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups liked what he saw from Reath against the Cavs:

“(Reath) has been great man, he's been great. That's one reason why I wanted him on our team so badly. he's so different than our other fives, being able to space the floor. But not only that, he goes in there and rebounds. His offensive rebounding…he's just never giving up out there. He's just got a good feel for the game. He kind of runs the paint, you can throw him at the elbow, he can make different reads and passes. So, I'm happy to (Reath) playing so well. But I'm not surprised.”

The Blazers are far from healthy at the moment, with Anfernee Simons, Scott Henderson, and Malcom Brogdon also out due to various injuries. But even when the team was a full strength (or close to it), they struggled with offensive spacing. Ayton has the size and touch in the paint to be a difference maker, but often finds himself hounded by multiple defenders. This issue is compounded while the Blazers have been missing some of the guards listed above.

Reath fits the offense because he's able to stretch the floor as a legitimate 3-point threat at the top of the key. While fellow big Jabari Walker will take the 3-pointer, he hasn't differentiated himself as a true outside threat at this point. In the minutes Reath is on the court with the Blazers reserves, it helps get some movement and open up driving lanes – something that the young unit needs desperately until the team is healed up. If Reath shows the Blazers that he can be that guy, there are consistent rotation minutes available to him.

It's not often that NBA fans see a 27-year-old NBA rookie. But Duop Reath has had quite the unique journey to the NBA. In a Blazers season that may not feature very many wins, fans will instead turn to interesting storylines to follow. An NBA story doesn't get any better than Duop Reath's journey.