The Portland Trail Blazers signed free agent guard Luis Montero in July as a project and he is working hard to find his way with the NBA team. From Erik Gundersen of The Columbian:
- "Although the current structure of the roster and the fact the Blazers bought into him so early in the summer bodes well for Montero, his spot isn’t guaranteed. In his first action in Monday’s preseason game, he caught the ball and shot a 3-pointer, which went in, only to have it waived off because he stepped out of bounds. Montero is a project in the truest sense of the word. He moved from his native Dominican Republic to the United States at age 19. ... The learning curve, given the cultural and language barriers, the skill level jump from Community College to the NBA and the nature of learning the NBA game is a tough one to deal with. Stotts hasn’t seen anyone have to go through so many obstacles to assimilating to the NBA before in his NBA coaching career, which spans over two decades. 'He’s had a lot more things to adjust to than anybody else,' Stotts said."
Montero is not a lock to make the regular season roster, however he may just make it as the 15th spot looks to be a competition between point guards Tim Frazier and Phil Pressey. Montero needs a lot of development and he may spend part of the 2015-16 season in the D-League.
