It has been a rough-sailing 2023-24 season for the Portland Trail Blazers, as was expected when they dealt away Damian Lillard in an effort to fully embrace the rebuild. But amid their uneven display on the hardwood, this is the time for the Blazers brass to assess which players on the roster could be long-term keepers alongside their young core of Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe (among others).
To that end, the Blazers converted the contract of rookie big man Duop Reath from a two-way deal to a standard NBA contract, signing the 27-year old Australian center to a three-year deal. Reath has been more than solid for the Blazers this season, and Henderson, upon learning of his teammate’s new contract during the All-Star weekend, became very excited for his teammate’s success.
“Yes sir!” Henderson screamed after hearing the news of Reath’s new contract, via the official Blazers Twitter account. “Yes, bro, yes. Ah, that’s aight! You know, I’m really, really proud of Duop. People don’t see it a lot but Duop works, man. He works every time I go back into the gym. He’s breaking sweat already.”
Indeed, it’s quite the development for the Blazers for Duop Reath to emerge as a legitimate rotation player in the NBA. At 27 years old, Reath hasn’t gotten too many chances to stick around on an NBA roster. So for Reath to cement himself as a keeper in his first try? That is something that bodes well for Reath’s chances of fashioning a long NBA career for himself.
Reath burst onto the scene as an important piece for the Australian national basketball team; with Jock Landale injured, the 27-year old big man put up steady production as an inside-out big in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. This definitely caught the eye of the Blazers brass, and Reath has paid off their trust in him, big time.
In 40 games thus far this season for the Blazers, Duop Reath is averaging 8.9 points per game and 3.8 rebounds on 47.5 percent shooting from the field and 38.5 percent shooting from deep. He should give Scoot Henderson a solid option in the two-man game for at least the next few seasons.
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