The last time I wrote about the Portland Trail Blazers for The Observer, it was after the team had started 9-4 in 2022, just over two years ago. I wrote that people shouldn’t be sleeping on the Blazers that season. The front office had just traded for forward Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart and Grant had all hit game-winners in that stretch, and Damian Lillard was playing some of the best ball of his career.
What ended up happening? The team missed the playoffs and ended up with the seventh pick in the draft lottery, and haven’t made it back to the postseason – or outside of the lottery – since. Pretty astute prediction on my part.
So, why does it feel like they’re in a better position now than they were then? Is it that they are currently on a three game winning streak? Well, obviously that is making me see the team through rose-colored lenses. Is it because of the coaching? Well, despite the winning streak, and being two games away from a .500 record, I still would like to see Chauncey Billups let go from his position. So, what could it be?
The Don. Shaedon Sharpe.
The former seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft has shown promise throughout his career with his unparalleled athleticism and high-flying dunks, but was hindered last season due to injury and missed the majority of the year. The Don came back six games ago, and after a slow start has looked like the Rose City’s superstar of the future. In the team’s two back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves – an organization that was a mere few games away from making the NBA Finals last year – Sharpe averaged 25 points and 4.5 rebounds (Boasting his career-high 33 points in one game), while shooting 50% from the floor and 40% from the three-point line, despite being guarded by All-NBA superstar Anthony Edwards and All-Defensive forward Jaden McDaniels.
Sharpe, despite not playing in college, quickly found his footing in the NBA thanks to mentorship from Lillard, the former face of the franchise. You can see it in his game. Sharpe moves at a similar slow pace that Lillard does, being methodical with every step he makes knowing exactly when to pull the trigger. On Sunday versus the Atlanta Hawks, Sharpe hit a step-back three-pointer from well beyond the arc to seal the game for Portland, a move that fans had seen Lillard hit time, and time again.
Alongside Sharpe, the front office actually had one of their best off-seasons in years. Following the Lillard trade just before last season began, and their number three overall pick – proposed centerpiece of the franchise – Scoot Henderson struggling heavily in his rookie year, the team had to show up this off-season to affirm that they were working towards becoming a winning basketball team. What did they do? Traded Malcolm Brogdon and two-first round picks for Deni Avdija, and drafted two-time NCAA champion Donovan Clingan with the seventh overall pick. While the price for Avidja may have been on the heftier side, he is a young, extremely talented forward who only appears to be getting better each year of his career. At this point, I like the move. While Avdija raises the teams floor, drafting Clingan raises the teams ceiling. In the teams second win over Minnesota, Clingan started the game for an injured Deandre Ayton and nearly recorded a triple-double with blocks. The young stud stuffed 8-blocks, the most by a rookie this year, while also boasting 17 points and 12 rebounds.
So now, the Blazers have their core of Henderson, Sharpe, Avdija and Clingan ready to go for the foreseeable future. Also on the roster is Toumani Camara, who was sent as trade-filler for Lillard but has become one of the key members of the team. He’s not going anywhere either. But that leaves the remnants of the old era in a tricky spot. A fire-sale at the trade deadline is a must if the team wants to maximize the development of this core.
Grant, who signed a massive five-year extension the day before Lillard requested a trade, is currently the teams starting power-forward, and will be until he is traded or his contract is over… in four years. Grant was brought into Portland to give the team a forward to compete for a championship with, and while I am very excited for the team in its current state, they are nowhere near close to being that caliber of team. So, why can’t Grant be that forward somewhere else? Despite how big his contract seemed at the time, it actually seems to be pretty reasonable now following the massive contracts handed out this last off-season following the NBA’s cap-space increase. And with the new CBA, Portland will either have to reap the consequences of too many large contracts or trade Grant and…
Deandre Ayton. The former number one overall pick, who the Phoenix Suns gave a gigantic contract to before sending him off to Portland as part of the three-team deal between the two teams and the Milwaukee Bucks. Ayton has been serviceable for the Blazers, and at times even exciting, but drafting Clingan has left the team with a glut of centers vying for playing time, especially when you throw Robert Williams III and Duop Reath into the mix. One of those three has to go, and Clingan, Williams and Reath are all too young, too cheap, and frankly too good to prioritize Ayton.
Lastly, I must talk about Anfernee Simons. The guard out of IMG Academy who is truly caught in the crosshairs of this changing team. Simons was drafted in 2018, and was a part of the teams run to the Western Conference Finals which feels oh-so-long-ago at this point. Heading into his sixth season in the league, Simons is the team’s starting point-guard, a dunk contest champion, one of the league’s premier three-point shooters… and expendable.
Simons, the longest tenured player on the team, has been disappointing to start the year. His three-ball isn’t falling, his body language and attitude is less than inspiring, his mind seems to be everywhere but the court. Simons is coming back from a minor injury soon, and I have faith that he will return to being the stud that I know he is, but at this point, I don’t think that he has a place on this team. Notably, the team has gone on this three-game winning streak with Simons and Ayton both out with injury.
The dilemma is this– Scoot Henderson can’t come off the bench forever. Your number-three overall pick, the golden-boy of the now-defunct G-League Ignite program, and the quote-unquote “Dame Replacement” needs to start. It’s fine to ease him into that role, but sooner than later, he’s going to need that playing time if the team wants to see him become the star they want him to be.
It helps that Simons is arguably the team’s most valuable trade piece. He is on an incredibly inexpensive deal that expires after next season, and could provide the scoring punch that a contending team may need either in their starting line-up or as their first guy off the bench.
Keeping Simons means that one of him, Henderson or Sharpe will always be coming off the bench, or that the team will be running a three-guard line-up most nights, and in a league that is growing taller and longer each season, that just isn’t going to cut it. Plus, the Blazers have already tried a three-guard line-up years ago with Lillard, CJ McCollum and Norman Powell. Look where we are now. It’ll hurt, for the betterment of the franchise, as well as Simons’ career, he needs to be dealt.
