Portland Trail Blazers rookie Nassir Little experienced a precipitous drop during the 2019 NBA Draft. Little was a top 5 recruit heading into his first year at the University of North Carolina, but he struggled throughout his freshman campaign, leaving him to fall all the way to 25th overall to the Blazers.
Now that the preseason is slated to begin in roughly two weeks, Little and the Blazers are preparing to mount up a fight in an extremely competitive Western Conference.
Little, for his part, is looking to make an impact on his team during his rookie year. In particular, the 19-year-old rookie wants to earn the respect of his teammates before training camp.
“To earn their respect on the court as a rookie has been big for me. I’m excited to keep going with that,” Little told Jamie Hudson of NBC Sports.
“All the stuff in the past is in the past, but now I have another chance to earn my [reputation] and try to contribute early on, on a good team.”
Little was not able to break into Roy Williams’s starting lineup last season with North Carolina, coming off the bench to put up 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game on 47.8 percent 3-point shooting.
Clearly, Little is a raw but talented athlete that needs some time to develop in the NBA. With veterans like Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and now Pau Gasol to help him along, his future is in good hands.
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