PORTLAND — The Portland Trail Blazers filled their 15th roster spot Monday evening with the signing of NBA Development League guard Tim Frazier from the Maine Red Claws.
This is Frazier’s second call-up this season with his first NBA stint coming as a member of the Phildelphia 76ers. He signed two 10-day contracts with the 76ers and he averaged seven assists in six games with Philadelphia.
Frazier was waived after the trade deadline so the team could make room to sign former Trail Blazers forward Thomas Robinson.
Frazier averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and two steals per game in 41 games for the Red Claws. Frazier was recently named the D-League’s Player of The Week, an honor which he has taken home three times this season.
Frazier was also the D-League leader in triple-doubles with four on the season.
As his numbers indicate, Frazier is a pass-first point guard.
We solicited the help of D-League expert Chris Reichert who is the editor of Fansided’s D-League blog “Road to The Association,” to answer the all important question who is Tim Frazier?
“He’s a pass-first guard that sees plays two and three steps ahead of everyone else,” Reichert said in an e-mail exchange with The Columbian. “He can score when needed, but it’s mostly in the paint. His outside shot is definitely still developing, but it’s improved as the season has gone on.”
Reichert considers Frazier a “shoe-in” to win the D-League’s MVP award despite the fact that he will not finish the season there.
His shooting numbers in Philadelphia left a lot to be desired where he shot 33 percent from the free-throw line, 27 percent from the field and 31 percent from the free-throw line.
It appears as though Frazier will be the team’s emergency third point guard in the event that something were to happen to Damian Lillard, Steve Blake or CJ McCollum.
He comes to Portland with a good resume in the development league and if things go according to plan, we likely won’t see much of him this season.
Leonard changes agents
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier this afternoon that Meyers Leonard has changed representation, leaving agent Jeff Schwartz and Octagon to sign with CAA (Creative Artists Agency). Schwartz also represents Wesley Matthews.
Leonard confirmed the switch but would not discuss it any more prior to Monday’s game against Phoenix.
Leonard is the only player on the team represented by CAA.
Knight out Monday
Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said that Knight would be out once again on Monday.
The Phoenix Suns were busy at the trade deadline and their biggest prize of that day continues his inability to stay on the court.
Knight, who was traded from Milwaukee at the deadline, re-injured his ankle on Sunday against Oklahoma City which kept him out of the previous eight games.
