Shabazz Napier is really blossoming in Portland
By John Hugar
The first three years of Shabazz Napier’s NBA career weren’t particularly noteworthy. After shooting up draft boards following a championship-winning senior year at UConn, Napier earned the praise of LeBron James, and his scoring and leadership made many wonder if he had a better chance of thriving out in the NBA than previously thought.
Instead, he played for three different teams in his first three years and struggled to make much of an impression. The Heat and Magic both moved on from Napier after a single season, and when he landed in Portland, he spent yet another season as a relatively anonymous end-of-the-rotation player. Going into this season, it would not have been farfetched to call Napier a bust. But Napier has demonstrated his resilience before, and he’s showing it yet again. In his second season with the Trail Blazers, Napier has thrived in a backup point guard role, and is a legitimate rotation player on one of the better teams in the Western Conference. Anyone who was still camping out on Napier Island has been thoroughly vindicated by his performance so far this season.
Napier is averaging career-highs in points per game, minutes per game, shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. After shooting below 40 percent from the field in each of his first three seasons, he’s currently hitting 49.4 percent of his shots, including an eye-popping 51.7 percent from downtown. Quite simply, Napier looks like a different player. He looks more like the dominant scorer we saw at UConn than at any point since he entered the NBA. Will he keep hitting more than half of his 3s? No, but it appears he finally adjusted to the NBA game, and should be a valuable part of the Blazers second unit as the team embarks on a playoff run.
What has sparked this sudden revival? Well, maybe it’s because he’s actually shooting fewer 3s than he ever has before. In each of his first three seasons, more than half of Napier’s shots came from beyond the arc. This year, less than a third of his shots are from outside. This might seem counter-intuitive in a league increasingly dominated by the 3, but it means his shot selection has improved drastically.
Napier is also improving considerably on short-range shots, as he’s hitting a career-high 57.9 percent on shots within three feet of the hoop, a vast improvement over his previous career high of 45.7 percent. It’s worth noting the Trail Blazers have some of the best spacing in the league, as they currently rank third in 3-point shooting, and that likely opened up the floor a Napier a bit. Mostly though, what we’re seeing this season is the emergence of Napier as a more intelligent scorer. Early in his career, he tried to replicate his college game by firing up as many 3s as possible. When that didn’t work, he changed up his game and developed a more intelligent and assertive offensive arsenal. We’re seeing the fruits of his efforts this season.
The lone downside of Napier’s improvement is he’s been somewhat inconsistent. After a three-game stretch from Nov. 18-22 in which he scored in double figures each game, he has failed to top five points in any of his last three contests. Some nights, Napier is instant offense off the bench, other times, he blends into the fabric a bit. Even then, though, it’s worth noting Napier can contribute in ways other than the score sheet.
In Monday’s win over the Knicks, Napier had just five points, but he also contributed three steals. As a guard playing alongside Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Napier’s chances will naturally be limited. Still, Napier has proven he can contribute in multiple capacities, and appears to be growing into one of the better backup point guards in the league.
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Napier’s fourth-year success is a nice story that deserves a little more coverage. It’s always disappointing to see a college hero flame out on the big stage, especially when LeBron himself gave him his blessing. But just when it looked like Napier’s NBA career would be a footnote, he’s discovered a new level to his game, and is proving he can contribute meaningful minutes with a quality team.
Napier’s rookie contract is up after this season, and while it initially looked like he’d struggle to even get a one-year deal, it now seems he will have multiple suitors interested in his services this summer.