Trail Blazers News: Ex-Portland Guard Joins International Squad

He's wasting no time in moving on! For now...

Apr 14, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Taze Moore (76) dunks against the Sacramento Kings. / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Former 2023-24 Portland Trail Blazers rookie shooting guard Taze Moore is moving on from the NBA.

Gemma Karstens-Smith of The Canadian Press/Richmond News reports that the 6'5" Houston product has inked a deal with the Canadian Elite Basketball League's Vancouver Bandits.

"I’m almost there," the 25-year-old told Karstens-Smith of how he feels about his playing career. "I’m still on my journey, I’m still young.”

A bone-shattering right leg injury while playing for Cal State Bakersfield required five surgeries, but a resilient Moore remained dialed-in on achieving his playing dream. He transferred to the University of Houston to finish his NCAA career. That experience has helped him keep his uneven pro career in the proper context, to hear him tell it, anyway.

“I know the game can be taken away from you at any moment," he reflected this week. "A lot of people might not know that.” 

"I'm just one of those guys where I won't quit," Moore said. "If both legs were broken and we were in a war, I’d try to crawl somewhere. That’s just me.”

After going undrafted in 2022, he lined up with the Dallas Mavericks' NBA G League affiliate squad the Texas Legends. His G League rights were flipped to Portland's squad, the Rip City Remix, in January. A few days later, he was inked to a 10-day deal with the Trail Blazers.

In his four games with Portland this year, he averaged 4.5 points on 42.1% shooting from the floor, two rebounds and 1.3 assists.

Joining the Vancouver Bandits won't necessarily preclude an NBA return, as the CEBL season starts in May, and runs till August, meaning there will be no overlap with the start of the 2024-25 season next fall.

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