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Blazers Sign Dennis Smith Jr, Marquese Chriss To Training Camp

Editor-in-chief

Blazersland.com Editor-in-chief, Chris Craig, was born in Texas but has been a Blazer fan since he can remember. He grew up in Portland, playing street ball on the local court. He has played and coached at the high school level. He received a bachelor’s in English from Portland State University.

The Portland Trail Blazers have signed guard Dennis Smith Jr and power forward Marquese Chriss to unguaranteed contracts. The two will battle it out in training camp with begins September 28th for the 14 roster spot.

Smith jr a 6th year veteran has averaged 11.8 points and 4.4 assists a game for his career. Last season with Detroit, he averaged 7.3 points and 3.7 assists in limited minutes. Smith Jr who was drafted at #9 in 2017 was touted as a future all star but due to injury and missed opportunity he has yet to realize that potential. He is a high IQ play maker, a solid distributor, and at times an octane scorer.

Marquese Chriss, the 8th pick in the 2016 draft has shown promise, but has never been able to find his place in the league. He had a tepid rookie year with the Suns. Despite career highs in points (27) and blocks in a game (5), inconsistency overtook promise. Chriss bounced around with several teams before playing most recently with the Golden State Warriors where he averaged 9.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists before suffering a season ending injury.

The Blazers are also interested in bringing Michael Beasley, James Ennis, Isaiah Hartenstein,and Patrick Patterson into training camp to vie for the remaining roster spots as well.

Sep 8, 2021Editor-in-chief

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