Duop Reath's Future in Portland Unclear Amid Up and Down Season With Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the most unsorted frontcourt situations across the NBA. There are two recent first-round draft picks in Donovan Clingan and Yang Hansen, an impending unrestricted free agent in Robert Williams III, and impending restricted free agent Duop Reath.

There's been so much "Time Lord" trade chatter that it's easy to assume he'll be dealt by the February 5 deadline. If Yang isn't ready to be a starter yet, though, which he's not, holding onto Williams becomes a possibility.

It has to be. When Reath was the only big man around, like he was in a 143-120 loss against the New Orleans Pelicans last week, the team had to go small to survive. In that particular contest down in the Big Easy, they didn't. New Orleans had a +16 rebounding advantage and a +26 advantage in the paint.

Since Williams and Clingan have returned, the Blazers have reeled off barn-burner wins against the Golden State Warriors (136-131) and the Sacramento Kings (134-133). Reath didn't play against the Dubs and played four minutes in the Kings win, missing his one shot and recording one stat: a foul.

Reath is a sharpshooting big man who's hit 19 of his 39 three-point attempts so far this season. Unfortunately, he's a bit one-dimensional in the NBA. He is a decent rebounder, averaging seven per-36 minutes in his career, but that's borderline unplayable as a modern starting pivot. Spot minutes are suitable at the 4 in bigger lineups, but Portland has too many switchable combo forwards, like Jerami Grant, Toumani Camara, and Deni Avdija, to dole that Reath's way in high-stakes games at this point.

Duop Reath Must Make Most of Spot Minutes to Keep Role in Portland

The regular season will provide plenty more opportunities for Reath to prove himself in Portland. His agent, Drew Morrison, is good at getting his guys paid -- he negotiated the extensions OG Anunoby, Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins, and Jordan Poole are currently on, for reference -- so there are ways for him to either land a lucrative extension with the Blazers or impress his next employer enough.

Reath has to rebound the ball better and maintain a high defensive standard, even as an undersized big man lacking standout athleticism, by NBA standards, to land that pact.

Easier said than done, but very possible for the former Lee College Navigator and LSU Tigers star.