Nassir Little Aims To Step Up On Defense

The Portland Trail Blazers’ Nassir Little has goals for himself in his second season with the team, including one key one: step up on defense. Jamie Hudson of NBC Sports Northwest details Little’s aims after a rookie season where he played in 48 regular season games. While his first priority is to gain more playing time, Little knows what he needs to do to get it.

Primarily just to get on the floor, man. I think that’s the number one goal because I think everything else falls in line after that and I think for me to get on the court I just have to be that defensive stopper that I know that I’m capable of being.

Little missed games in the Orlando bubble due to a concussion and subsequent dehydration, but he has returned to training in Portland after a break. Defense isn’t Little’s only priority. He knows that to maintain any playing time, he needs to step up on both sides of the ball.

“Offensively, being able to hit more open shots, I think I progressed significantly throughout my rookie year and I’ve progressed a lot since then to now, so I’m excited to see what I can do on both ends of the court this year,” Little explained.

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