Payton, Oliver, Onuaku Take Training Camp Deals with Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers will welcome Gary Payton II, Chinanu Onuaku, and Cam Oliver when 2018 training camp opens at the end of the month. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news of the training camp signings today.

Payton is a 6’3” point guard out of Oregon State whom Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress praises for “defense, passing instincts, physical tools...and athleticism”. Oliver is a 6’9” power forward from Delaware dubbed by Ryan Thompson of DraftExpress as, “an explosive athlete capable of finishing above the rim both in traffic and in the open court” and, “an intriguing long-term prospect”. At 6’10”, Louisville product Onuaku is projected as a center. He’s described by Givony and Mike Schmitz as, “fairly mobile, doing a good job of getting up and down the floor when motivated, and has nimble feet which allow him to move in an agile fashion, despite not being the quickest or most explosive big man around on first glance”.

Kevin Pelton, also of ESPN, reacts positively to the prospects and points out a connection with the Houston Rockets.

Steve Dewald of Blazer’s Edge evaluated Onuaku in a piece on potential two-way contract players last Friday. Casey Holdahl of the Trail Blazers seems to agree.