Nassir Little Ahead of Pivotal Season: "I'm Not a 'Project' No More"

In a new interview, Little details his shoulder rehab and expectations of a big year.

Nassir Little knows he isn't being talked about much. At 22, he's still young enough to be thought of as a prospect, but going into his fourth season coming off a strong 2021-22 season cut short by a shoulder injury, he's ready to be much more than that.

"Right now, I'm transitioning into a point in my career where [I'm] not a 'project' no more," Little said in a recent interview. "I'm an actual product, you feel me? And obviously, I'm going to continue to get better, but now it's like, 'he's a player.' It's not, 'Put him out there and let him develop.' This year is where I think I'm going to take a jump, for real."

His jump looked like it was going to come last year. As the Trail Blazers' season fell apart with Damian Lillard being shut down with an abdominal injury and veterans CJ McCollum, Norman Powell and Robert Covington being traded, Little saw his opportunity and role increase.

From mid-December on, Little became a full-time starter and responded by averaging career highs of 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game while more than doubling his three-point volume. He rapidly gained the trust of new head coach Chauncey Billups, who regularly praised his work ethic and defensive impact. But in late January, he suffered a labral tear in his left shoulder, undergoing season-ending surgery on Feb. 1.

"It sucked," Little said. "It was unfortunate because I felt like I was building so much momentum and I was starting to get going and get into a groove, and it was just like … it was unfortunate, bro."

After the surgery, Little took some time away from the team to begin the recovery process close to his family in their home of central Florida. He reached out to close friends including Coby White, his former college teammate at North Carolina, who had also suffered the same injury during the 2020-21 season with the Bulls. White told him to zoom in on smaller milestones to make the recovery process seem less daunting.

"When you look at it big-picture, it's like, 'Dang, I can't do anything for seven months,'" Little said. "So I just took every day by itself. 'Win today, win today.' It just kept me in a good spirit. I think that was the biggest thing. I knew I would bounce back from it. Right now, the shoulder stuff isn't even … it's a thing of the past, really."

Little's mother, too, reminded him during the process that all of these setbacks would only serve to set him up for even more success later.

"I'm really proud of myself," he said. "I didn't have a lot of days where I was feeling down. A lot of people talk about mental health as they go through injuries. I think I did a good job of staying in a good mental space the entire time and finding little goals."

He returned to Portland a month after the surgery to continue rehabbing with the Blazers' medical staff and started sitting on the bench with his teammates during games. By then, the Blazers were in full tear-down mode, shutting down all the veterans they didn't trade away at the deadline, developing their young players and gunning for a lottery pick. Had Little stayed healthy, he may have gotten extended reps—or he may have played a little too well and been held out by the end of the year anyway alongside Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic and Josh Hart, all of whom likely could have played later into the season if there was anything to play for.

For the Blazers, last year was a reset; for Little, it was, too. Under the radar, in May he underwent the same core muscle surgery that shut down Lillard. He estimates that he had only been playing through the abdominal tear for a few months, nowhere close to the three-plus years Lillard put off getting surgery, but it was something he and the team had planned on addressing in the offseason regardless. Once Little hurt his shoulder, ending his season, they decided to knock both surgeries out within a few months of each other so he'd be completely past any physical ailments by the start of camp.

The whole ordeal of having what looked like a breakout season cut short by injuries was difficult, but Little found silver linings once he got back around the team.

"At first, it was really painful for me to watch the games," he said. "I was distraught. So I couldn't watch it for that first month. And then once I got back to Portland and started watching it, it was still hard, but it got better. And then once I started ramping up in my rehab, it was getting easier. But that first three or four weeks, I couldn't even watch it. But I was still super-happy for those guys. I was super-happy for Ant. Me and Ant go way back, so I was happy to see him killing it. I was happy for the young guys to get a chance to show what they could do. Trendon [Watford] I think did a great job with his opportunity. So it was cool to see those guys get that chance and do what they do."

Little has been in Portland for most of the offseason, minus a few trips back home to Orlando, including a recent one to host his youth basketball camp benefiting the Nassir S. Little Youth Foundation. He also put in a brief appearance at Lillard's recent Formula Zero camp for elite high-school players. Most days, he wakes up early in the morning and drives to the Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin for several hours of workouts and treatment from the team's trainers. He hasn't been cleared for full-contact scrimmaging yet; that should come in the next month before the start of training camp in late September.

"I've stayed on that track the whole time," Little said. "There haven't been any setbacks. It's been super consistent. By them marking it as September, it's allowed it to be consistent. If they had said August, by shortening it a month you would have been in a situation where they'd be like, 'Ehh, let's push it back a month.' So by September, there's plenty of time to feel comfortable with where everything's at."

Now that he's healthy, Little has big goals for the coming season. He isn't shy about wanting to start. In fact, he says he feels "disrespected" when people don't already have him penciled into the starting lineup.

"That's definitely my goal," he said. "That's what I expect of myself. I've put the time and the work in. If I don't start, it's not a failure. But that's what I'm striving for. That's the caliber of player I think I am."

On paper, small forward is the only spot in the Blazers' lineup that isn't completely settled going into training camp. Lillard, marquee offseason trade pickup Jerami Grant and the newly re-signed (and paid) Simons and Nurkic are locked in at the other four positions; the battle to start at small forward will likely come down to Little and Hart, who came over from New Orleans as the centerpiece of the Blazers' deadline-week trade of McCollum.

Up and down the new-look roster first-year general manager Joe Cronin has put around the Lillard-Simons-Nurkic nucleus are tough-minded, versatile players who guard multiple positions—Grant, Hart, Justise Winslow, second-round pick and Summer League standout Jabari Walker, new free-agent signing Gary Payton II. Little fits right into that mold, too. Over his first three seasons, he's become a fan favorite for his willingness to throw his body around, crash the boards and dive after loose balls, drawing comparisons to past Blazers like Gerald Wallace and Brian Grant.

"I think for me, success is being able to play high volume that contributes to winning," Little said. "If I'm in the game and I'm doing stuff that's helping us win, that would be success for me personally. Obviously, I want us to be as good as we can be. But for myself, I want to be a big piece as to why we're winning. Being trusted late in games, being trusted in close situations, trusted to make big plays, make shots, stuff like that."

All indications are that his bosses are on the same page. Little hasn't had specific conversations yet with Billups or Cronin about his role or minutes. But at April's end-of-season press conference, Cronin included him among the six players he considers part of the Blazers' "core," and Billups said after the shoulder injury that he was pleased with Little's growth and had big plans for him in the future.

"Just last year and from the vibe, I think they expect me to have a big year," Little said. "And I don't think they'd expect me to have a big year if I wasn't going to have the opportunity."

On the Blazers' staff, Little has been working primarily with newly minted Summer League championship head coach Steve Hetzel, who supplies him with numbers detailing how well he scores in different types of plays. Not all players in the NBA embrace that kind of analytical approach, but Little likes seeing data on his strengths and weaknesses as they drill down on what his offensive role might be in a lineup loaded with high-volume scorers like Lillard, Simons and Grant.

"Percentile-wise, coming off of [dribble hand-offs], I'm up there," Little said. "I score, it feels like every time. I'm really efficient. I can get downhill. Stuff like that. Catch-and-shoots. I crash the boards, I can get a couple [points] off of that. I'm athletic, so I get to the basket. I feel like I'm good at playing off of people. I'm not going to be coming off pick-and-rolls, but I feel like this year what you'll see more of is pushing it in transition. I'm getting more comfortable with the ball in my hands, so I might start a secondary break situation. But it's not going to be anything crazy. I think if you watched the way I played with Dame this year, it'll be something similar to that. I'll just make more shots."

If Little has the kind of year he believes he will, he could become very rich very soon. Going into his fourth season, he's eligible for an extension before the season starts, otherwise he'll hit restricted free agency next summer. As he works his way back from the injuries, the contract isn't weighing on his mind. He loves Portland and wants to make it his long-term home. And the Blazers have made clear, publicly and privately, how they feel about him. He knows that if he stays healthy and plays well, these things have a way of working themselves out.

"To me, I feel like it's a win-win situation," he said. "I'm not thinking negatively. My only prediction or what I expect is for me to kill this year. So if we don't come to an agreement, I'll have a big year. And if we do, then I'm in a good situation. That means we found a situation that makes sense for both sides. If not, I'm gonna just kill and get it on the back end. It's no pressure."

For reasons out of his control, like these freak injuries and a serious bout with COVID-19 during the 2020 training camp, Little's career hasn't gone the way he anticipated. Now healthy and in a positive headspace, he's ready to show the Blazers—and everyone else—he's worth being one of the players they build around.

"I feel like I haven't earned the respect that I deserve," Little said. "I don't think people understand, I'm gonna be a player this year. It's gonna be another player on the team. Everyone says, 'Dame, Ant, Jerami, Nurk.' That's cool, but Nassir is in that conversation as well. Josh Hart is in that conversation. G.P. We've got guys that can really go.

"I've got to prove myself, and I'm aware of that, and I've got to continue to work. But I'm excited to showcase that this season."