Can Phil Pressey make the Portland Trail Blazers' final roster?

By foxsports
Published

The Portland Trail Blazers have 13 guaranteed contracts on their books for next season, and right now none of them are a true backup point guard. (C.J. McCollum is a combo guard who will likely assume ball-handling duties off the bench, but Portland needs him to score more than anything else.)

This leaves the door open for former Boston Celtics dynamo Phil Pressey to squeak in and take the role. He's currently on a non-guaranteed deal, but showed over the past couple seasons that he's more than capable of changing a game's pace off the bench and getting wherever he wants on the floor. 

Here's a closer look at whether Pressey can make Portland's final roster, courtesy of SB Nation's Blazer's Edge. His main competition is Tim Frazier, another point guard who's also on a non-guaranteed deal:

"Frazier may have the inside track at snagging a roster spot, as he's been with the Trail Blazers since last spring when he signed on with the team after fulfilling two 10-day contracts with the 76ers and after averaging 16.1 points, 9.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds in 41 games with the Main Red Claws in the D-League in 2014, also earning league MVP honors. Blazers fans saw him play 68 minutes last spring -- mostly garbage time -- and man the point for the team in Summer League this past July, when he averaged 9.8 points, 7.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. Though those stats aren't bad -- the assist numbers actually look pretty solid -- in six Summer League games, Frazier also turned the ball over almost four times a night, shot just 16.7 percent from outside and 37.9 percent from the field. Ostensibly, Pressey was brought in this past summer with a legitimate shot at challenging Frazier for a spot and making the Blazers' roster heading into the season. But what does he bring to the table?"

Pressey's outside shot is problematic, but he has blazing speed in the open court, can get to the rim and does a great job kicking out to shooters from the paint. He's too small to start, and defense isn't his strong suit, but Pressey belongs in an NBA team's rotation. 

Portland is a good fit.

(h/t: Blazer's Edge)