Blazers Training Camp Day 2: Jerami Grant 'Just Fits Here Like He's Been Here'
The Blazers' week of practices in Santa Barbara continues.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — If Tuesday's opening of Trail Blazers camp was full of first-day jitters, Wednesday was about tightening all of that up. Between a long film session and a day of drills that included more scrimmaging than the first day, Chauncey Billups' staff put on a nearly three-hour session on their second day in Santa Barbara.
"They've responded well," Billups said. "Most of the mistakes, some of the sloppiness that we had yesterday, we were much better today. At the end of practice, some guys are a little tired. So it's a mental component. … This year, most of our vets know a lot of the stuff. We've changed some things, but it's similar. Now, you're able to just kind of peel back the layers on stuff. But they're picking it up pretty good. And even our young guys, we did some of the stuff at Summer League. I've been really impressed, to be honest with you."
One of the fits that's been most intriguing early on in camp is between the Blazers' new starting frontcourt partners, Jerami Grant and Jusuf Nurkic. Grant said Monday at media day that he's excited to play with a passing center like Nurkic again after playing with two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic during the 2019-20 season.
The feeling is mutual.