Trail Blazers all-rookie starting five a testament to their new G-League squad

Published 10:14 pm Saturday, March 23, 2024

With injuries plaguing the franchise, Portland Trail Blazers’ head coach Chauncey Billups decided to roll out five rookies to start against the reigning NBA champions Denver Nuggets on Saturday, March 23. It’s a move that had only been done once before in the last half a century.

And it almost worked.

Led by the lineup of Scoot Henderson, Kris Murray, Rayan Rupert, Toumani Camara and Duop Reath, Portland fell to Denver 114-111. Reath led the Trail Blazers with 24 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Henderson added 22 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals. Camara finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Despite the lost, the matchup proved to serve as a valuable opportunity for the collection of young talent that Portland has amassed over the last season.

“In a normal situation these young guys wouldn’t be playing against the world champs,” Trail Blazers’ head coach Chauncey Billups said. “They’d be sitting and watching instead of getting the experience of playing against Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr… you got to look at the positive side. That’s how I look at it.”

Billups kept the rotation within nine players, as Jabari Walker, Moses Brown, Dalano Banton and Ashton Hagans provided needed minutes off the bench. Although most of the active players on Saturday likely saw an increase in minutes than usual, it’s not as if they where wholly unprepared.

Of the five starters, Henderson and Camara are the only ones this season to not spend time with Portland’s NBA G League affiliate in the Rip City Remix. Brown and Hagans have spent considerable time with the Remix as well, as the first-year G-League team has provided a space for the young prospects to continue their development playing in meaningful minutes and often larger roles.

On Saturday, that development was on full display.

“The Remix thing has been awesome,” Billups said. “I was a huge, huge component of it. It was one of the things I started fighting for day one ever since I got here. So to have it, and see the actual benefits of it – Kris Murray playing so many minutes there, Rayan (Rupert) playing so many minutes there early in the season, even a guy like Ashton (Hagans)… it’s been a great, great benefit to us to have the Remix and to have it so close right here local.”

The Trail Blazers (19-52) will hit the road next for a seven-game trip starting at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 25, against the Houston Rockets.