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#28 in the LBB end of the season team rankings...
Before we get into it, just a bit of preamble (you know I’m good for that) regarding how the content is being delivered. The team rankings are intended to be a read-at-your-own-leisure process. I know that Sundays are my usual delivery day, and I will get back to that this week as content more specific to that format starts to build back up with the WNBA season beginning, but for the team rankings, I want these to be individualized so you can choose which team you would like to read up on without having to sort through my maze of words to get there. Thus, the links to every team's piece will be listed at the bottom in continuity until we get to the number one team. Now, let’s talk basketball.
The 28th ranked team, the Portland Trail Blazers, are here because despite having a management structure that I trust less than Scott Foster’s fidelity, their core of young players and tradable assets are just far more exciting than Washington’s. Even with all that, don’t be surprised if Portland finishes with a worse record than Washington, as there are some intense growing pains in the Blazers' very near future. Portland hasn’t won more than 33 games in the three seasons that head coach Chauncey Billups and GM Joe Cronin have been there, and it feels highly unlikely that streak will be broken in the forthcoming campaign.
#28 Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 21-61 (tied 27th); 15th in the West; 97.88 Pace (21st); 116.6 Defensive Rating (23rd); 107.6 Offensive Rating (29th); -9 Net Rating (tied 28th)
Total Salary Cap Allocations: $196,344,454 (16th)
Cap Space: $-55,344,454 (15th)
Current Roster: Deandre Ayton, Malcolm Brogdon, Toumani Camara, Jerami Grant, Scoot Henderson, Kris Murray, Duop Reath, Rayan Rupert, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons, Matisse Thybulle, Jabari Walker, Robert Williams III
Key Free Agents: Delano Banton (Restricted-Team Option)
Single Word Description: Incongruent
Biggest Positive: The young core. With Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, the Blazers have perhaps the most physically exciting pair of young guards in the league; each of whom isn’t even legally able to drink yet. Between Scoot’s strength at the position and Shaedon’s astonishing athleticism, the two have unteachable elements to their games that are already at elite levels. But, both players are going to require a lot of patience and runway for development. Scoot was plagued by turnovers, as his 3.4 per game were second amongst all rookies (Wemby - 3.7). Oddly, considering that strength, Henderson also finished very poorly (42.8% at the rim), struggled to turn the corner with the same aggression and quickness that were his hallmarks coming into the league, and was terribly inefficient from the floor, shooting just 38.5% from the field and 32.5% from distance—though, his 81.9% from the line is encouraging for the development of his stroke. Shaedon, for his part, jumped out of the gate quickly in his sophomore season, averaging 20 points on 2.3 threes per game in his first ten appearances. Unfortunately, a combination of injuries (he only appeared in 32 games), poor shot selection (40.6%FG), and what seemed like a weird relationship with Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups dragged his season down to the point where he faded from the NBA consciousness as soon as a core muscle injury robbed him of his season in January.
The thing that often gets forgotten is that Sharpe sat out his sole season at Kentucky and Henderson played two formative years at G-League Unite, meaning that there are elements of structure and organization in terms of playing the game of basketball at this level that both players are actively learning on the fly. Henderson clearly began to figure some things out late in the year once Billups finally capitulated and made him the starting point guard in Portland’s 64th game of the season—Scoot averaged 16.4 points and 7.2 assists once he was inserted into the starting lineup. Prior to that point, Henderson had been a reserve for the vast majority of the season, often, inexplicably at shooting guard. For Sharpe, in his brief time on the court this year, he showed a penchant for difficult shot-making that had people invoking names like Kobe and Vince Carter. That may be high praise, but few players in the league shoot the ball more effortlessly from tough angles and awkward body positions than Sharpe.
In addition to their two precocious prized possessions, rookie Kris Murray, rookie elder statesman Duop Reath—yes, that’s an oxymoron, but dude is 28—and sophomores Jabari Walker and Toumani Camara all showed signs of being potentially valuable rotation players for Portland going forward.
Biggest Negative: Conceptualization. I know that the Dame situation last offseason had Blazers brass feeling that the future of their team was at the mercy of a franchise legend, but you didn’t need to be clairvoyant to have a contingency plan in the likely case that he finally decided to leave. Instead, once their hand was forced, Portland scrambled and gathered all the assets they could: good idea. And then decided to try to make a run at the season: bad idea. This should have been a team that traded some of their more fragile new players (Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon) before even giving the guys a locker. Instead, both players predictably got hurt, ultimately lowering their current trade value. In Brogdon’s case, if the thought is wanting him to mentor Scoot, considering the veteran guard’s downhill, rim-attacking style of play, you could convince me of that being why he wasn’t dealt. But with Portland already having traded for Deandre Ayton, and Williams’ injury history, it seemed silly to not cash out immediately on that chip. Clearly the Blazers front office had conceived of this team being capable of a more competitive season than they reasonably should have. That’s the problem, between GM Joe Cronin’s strange roster building and Billups’ odd rotations, it feels like this organization doesn’t have a cogent plan for how they want to progress this situation. This offseason they should be unloading veterans like a tour bus in D.C., as Jerami Grant, Brogdon, Williams III, Matisse Thybulle, and even Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton should all be actively shopped. This is a team that won 21 games yet stands at $9.6 million over the luxury tax. They should move some of that bevy of players that have value to other teams looking to add pieces, ostensibly tanking for another season in hopes of having better lottery luck next year for what is expected to be a stout 2025 draft class.
What’s Next: The smart play here is to lean into knowing they’re going to be bad while they allow these young guys to take their lumps. They could even continue to let Deandre Ayton stat-pad in the process, giving the perception that he was worth trading for. Chauncey Billups is entering the last year of his contract, and so far has not shown an especially deft touch at developing young players. That being said, the Blazers have to make sure they have the right man for the role. Of most importance though, is making it clear that there is some semblance of a long-term plan. This weird disjointed fog that seems to lurk over this franchise needs to be lifted.
What They Shouldn’t Do: Do not continue this foolish practice of feigning competitiveness. This isn’t a particularly well-constructed unit despite the Blazers currently having 14 players that would likely see playing time on an NBA roster. In that vein, despite him playing well as a zero stakes pick-up midway through the season, Portland should do nothing more with Dalano Banton than pick up his $2.2 million option for this year, as those 19.4 points he averaged over his last 20 games were clearly a looter in a riot circumstance.
Is There Hope?: Not for the next couple of years, but despite what felt like a pretty disastrous lottery outcome—Portland was awarded the 7th and 14th picks, while having the fourth best odds for number one, and two shots at it thanks to a Warriors pick they got in the Boston deal—the Blazers have a foundation that could develop into one of the league’s best backcourts in three to four seasons. The key is going to be at the helm, where Billups, whose job has recently been put under question for next season, just doesn’t feel like the right guy for the task. If Portland does decide to part ways with their lame duck head coach before the beginning of next year, it would be wise to push hard towards Kenny Atkinson (though he seems reluctant to leave Golden State) or Heat assistant Chris Quinn. Both of whom would be perfectly suited to the task of developing Portland’s young players.
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Thank you to:
Sports Contracts, Salaries, Caps, Bonuses, & Transactions | Spotrac.com
RealGM - NBA Basketball News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Depth Charts, Forums
Blazer's Edge, a Portland Trail Blazers community (blazersedge.com)
Basketball Statistics & History of Every Team & NBA and WNBA Players | Basketball-Reference.com
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