Catching Up With Nassir Little in the G League
The former Trail Blazers forward has played this season for the Sioux Falls SkyForce.
📍PORTLAND, Ore. — The NBA G League features basketball players from many different backgrounds and experience levels, all hoping for the same thing: a call-up to the NBA.
Some are undrafted rookies who would rather stay in the United States to chase the dream than go overseas, and probably make a lot more money.
And then there’s former Trail Blazers forward Nassir Little.
The No. 25 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Little spent four promising but injury-plagued seasons in Portland. He signed a four-year, $28 million extension with the Blazers in the fall of 2023, but was traded to Phoenix along with Jusuf Nurkic as part of the blockbuster Damian Lillard trade that brought Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara to Portland.
Little’s one season in Phoenix was also riddled with injuries, and at various points last season he fell out of the Suns’ rotation. Somewhat unexpectedly given how much money he was set to make over the next three years, the Suns waived him last August. He signed a training-camp deal with the Miami Heat but didn’t make their opening-night roster and instead joined their G League team, the Sioux Falls SkyForce.
Letting you behind the curtain a bit, Little was a player I always had a good relationship with when he was here. I found him thoughtful, engaging and grounded, and enjoyed talking to him about a variety of topics. When he signed that extension two years, ago, I found his perspective on valuing security over money to be refreshing. I hoped he’d make the Heat last fall, and I’ve kept track of his season in the G League, where he’s averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 34.2 minutes per game for Sioux Falls.
We caught up on Monday, following the SkyForce’s 124-113 win over the Rip City Remix, in which Little had 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Our conversation is below.
