Omari Johnson to Join Blazers Summer League Roster
Omari Johnson will compete for a roster spot on the Portland Trail Blazers for the second consecutive year.
By Marvin Lewis Jul 5, 2016, 3:21pm PDT
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Andy Wooldridge
The Portland Trail Blazers released their 2016 Summer League roster earlier today as they prepare to compete in the Las Vegas Summer League. The roster is headlined by Pat Connaughton, Cliff Alexander, Luis Montero and Noah Vonleh who are all returning players from last season. Other notable names on the roster include former Memphis Grizzlies guard Russ Smith and former Baylor standout Pierre Jackson. One player who is trying to make a good second impression on the Blazers organization is former Oregon State Beaver Omari Johnson.
Johnson attended Oregon State from 2007-2011 where he appeared in 120 games, starting 67 of those games, and averaged 6.4 points and 4 rebounds per game. He went undrafted in 2011 but has spent time in Canada, Spain and the NBA D-League. Last season Johnson was signed by the Trail Blazers and competed in 4 preseason games. Johnson showed flashes of potential to compete in the NBA but was not able to put together a consistent enough stretch to secure a roster spot.
The former Beaver faces an uphill battle to make the final roster as he is one of 9 forwards on the summer league team, 3 of which also have previous NBA experience in Cliff Alexander, Noah Vonleh and CJ Fair. However if he performs at the level he did during last year's preseason there is a good chance he may get a training camp invite from the Blazers or another team in the league.
The Blazers first Summer League game is Saturday July 9th, at 1:00 pm where they will face off against the Phoenix Suns.