Trail Blazers’ Duop Reath not forgotten in center competition

Deandre Ayton is the Portland Trail Blazers starting center. Robert Williams III and rookie Donovan Clingan will compete for minutes behind Ayton.

And then there is Duop Reath . The second-year center, who at 27 earned his first NBA contract and made 20 starts in 68 appearances out of necessity. He finds himself pushed a tad into the background with the addition of Clingan and the return of Williams, who played in just six games last season because of a knee injury.

However, he does have one trait that the other three can't touch him on: Shooting three-pointers.

That skill, alone, could earn Reath some minutes here and there in the final year of a two-year deal.

"That's the benefit of the team," Reath said. "Everybody's good at what they're good at. (Clingan) is huge. Great rim protector. You've got me, who can stretch the floor a little bit. Everybody is just different. So, coach can use whatever he needs that game, that day."

Reath averaged 9.1 points and 3.7 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game. He shot 46.1% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range. Defensively, Reath struggled, which was to be expected for a rookie who, at 6-foot-9, is at times at a size disadvantage inside.

While his pick-and-pop skills help him somewhat mitigate his deficiencies on defense, Reath said he spent the summer, which included playing in the Paris Olympics for Australia, working on the negative parts of his game.

"Just maintaining what I was doing here before," he said. "Making sure that I keep shooting the ball well and get better defensively. Rebounding, trying to get better at that as well."

Billups made a point during media day not to leave out Reath when asked about the top three centers.

"He obviously had a really good year for us last year and had a great summer," Billups said.

Good enough to break the rotation?

Billups will face a challenge finding adequate minutes for his top three centers with 48 minutes available. He talked about playing two together here and there. Reath might be the best fit at power forward, given his shooting. But he must show Billups that his defense is worthy of being on the court.

"I feel like I'm getting better," Reath said. "Learning. Obviously, last year was my first year. Just got to get used to spacing and things like that."