{"id":64248,"date":"2024-02-17T11:10:39","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T16:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=64248"},"modified":"2024-02-17T11:10:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T16:10:39","slug":"nba-news-trail-blazers-promote-rookie-center-to-multi-year-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/17\/nba-news-trail-blazers-promote-rookie-center-to-multi-year-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA News: Trail Blazers Promote Rookie Center to Multi-Year Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NBA is full of success stories, and Portland Trail Blazers big man <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/reathdu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Duop Reath<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the latest example. The 27-year-old rookie center had been on a two-way contract, but just played his way to a multi-year deal, continuing an inspiring journey <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5wHjTp7XDkE?si=G3D1AXvHveE2sspx\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from South Sudan to the Association<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Trail Blazers are signing two-way center Duop Reath on a new three-year standard NBA contract, sources tell ESPN. Reath \u2014 who has averaged 8.9 points this season \u2014 has had a remarkable path to landing in the Blazers frontline rotation and the security of this new deal. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pFaxah5CBh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/pFaxah5CBh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1758575801660748077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><b>NBA News: Trail Blazers Promote Rookie Center to Multi-Year Deal<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Background<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reath\u2019s story is one of resilience. He was born in South Sudan but moved with his family to Australia at nine years old to chase his hoop dreams. Reath transferred to LSU from Lee College in Texas, and he averaged 12.3 points on 52% shooting in his two years as a Tiger. He went undrafted in 2018, played for the Mavericks&#8217; Summer League team and eventually began his career overseas. After successful stints in Serbia, China and Lebanon&#8212;as well as a return to Australia&#8212;the Blazers took a chance on Reath with one of their two-way contract spots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But instead of spending time with the Rip City Remix, Reath gained experience through Chauncey Billups\u2019s rotation. He made his NBA debut on Nov. 12 against the Lakers, logging 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and a block in 14 minutes. His career night came against the Kings on Dec. 27. Reath put up <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/PL1ZIw3MUb8?si=r5JYNV1oozF8cdys\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">25 points (9\/15 FG, 3\/6 3PT, 4\/4 FT), nine rebounds<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a steal and a block\u2014all contributing to a 130-113 Portland victory. In 40 games (11 starts), Reath has averaged 8.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 blocks per game.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How Duop Reath Impacts the Trail Blazers<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite being the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/leagues\/NBA_2024_rookies.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fourth oldest rookie in the league<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Duop Reath has helped the Blazers immensely and adjusted to the league\u2019s playing style immediately. At 6-foot-11 and 245 pounds, Reath is a unique, agile big man who can work both inside and outside of the paint. He\u2019s shooting 47% from the field and 38% from three\u2014both on respectable volume\u2014which are impressive numbers from a bruising center. He\u2019s also able to hold his own on the perimeter defensively, altering three-point attempts with ease. Reath has carved out a nice role behind <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aytonde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DeAndre Ayton<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and is one of the reasons why Portland\u2019s bench is fifth in offensive rebounds per game (4.9). Performances like the one below are why Reath has earned his stripes and a new payday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"DUOP REATH DROPS 15PTS &amp; 13REB vs NETS (FULL HIGHLIGHTS)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k5agVUwZ5s8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reath has been able to develop very well during the Blazers\u2019 rebuild. His new deal is part of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/basketball\/news\/trail-blazers-scoot-henderson-puts-up-15-points-in-starting-role\/#:~:text=Henderson%20is%20Portland%27s%20starting%20point,(elbow)%20returns%20from%20injury.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">several changes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that could come for the team after the All-Star break. Portland\u2019s current trajectory (15-39) suggests that their starters could be shut down sooner than later. If that\u2019s the case, then Reath will have more opportunities to showcase his skills on the big stage. That, coinciding with the trust he\u2019s earned from the Portland brass, is all any rookie could ask for.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NBA is full of success stories, and Portland Trail Blazers big man Duop Reath is the latest example. The 27-year-old rookie center had been on a two-way contract, but just played his way to a multi-year deal, continuing an inspiring journey from South Sudan to the Association. The Trail Blazers are signing two-way center [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":64252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,3,23],"tags":[49022,202],"class_list":["post-64248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-trailblazers","tag-duop-reath","tag-nba-news"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}