Former Maryland Terrapins small forward Jake Layman saw a depletion in playing time during the first round of the playoffs. Falling behind the plethora of wings on the Trail Blazers roster, Layman totaled only seven minutes in the series, averaging just 2.3 minutes per game.
The 24-year-old is in his third season in the NBA and has spent all of them with Portland. He produced the most successful season of his young career this season, starting in 33 of the 71 games he played in. In those 71 games, Layman averaged 7.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in roughly 19 minutes per game.
Heading into the playoffs, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts tightened up the rotation, giving the starters more minutes. Layman saw his minutes go to his teammates Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Maurice Harkless. All three saw their minutes jump up by around five per game, which collectively took away the majority of Layman’s minutes.
After defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1, Portland will face the winner of the series between the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs in the second round.
Layman is in the final year of his rookie contract with the Trail Blazers, and after not playing too much in the first round, he might look to sign elsewhere in the offseason.
