As we begin to draw conclusions from the NBA offseason, we take stock of certain teams and raise questions as to, well, what the hell their vision actually is.
Crude? Maybe. But in the case of the Portland Trail Blazers, it’s nevertheless fair to wonder out loud if their roster even makes sense.
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This a team that made the playoffs for the first time since 2021, held its own in spots against the Western Conference champion Spurs in the first round and identified a star building block. All of which makes their decision-making even more baffling.
Let’s get into it.
This is the Big Kahuna Burger of their offseason, and, oh boy, am I still trying to make sense of the applied logic here.
It’s not just the obvious point-guard logjam, which has been debated ad nauseum recently, but also just the overall direction of the franchise.
If Deni Avdija is Portland’s main guy, which we have to assume because his talent level appears to be highest of anyone on the team, the plan should be to open the court for him, not shrink it down.
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Morant, in so many ways, operates within a similar framework as Avdija: getting downhill, drawing fouls and focusing on putting pressure on the rim.
Can the two work in unison? Occasionally they might be all right, but in half-court situations, and against defenses with strong back-line rim-protection, the need for optimal floor-spacing will simply be too great.
If anything, this puts a ridiculous amount of responsibility on Donovan Clingan to continue his 3-point shooting evolution and become even more of a threat from downtown. His 34% from range last season was indeed encouraging, so we’ll see if he can up the volume and keep defenses honest.
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Yet, the point remains: Morant and Avdija aren’t necessarily the most obvious pairing, and the Blazers will have to work around the two if they wish to achieve anything that resembles reliable offense when they share the court.
What is Shaedon Sharpe? Do we even know yet?
Despite averaging 20.8 points last season, in just 29.4 minutes, the 23-year-old shooting guard remains a bit of a mystery. He’s a curiously inconsistent 3-point shooter, but at least gets them up at a high rate. In 234 games, he’s launched over 1,200 of those bad boys, but sits at just over 33% accuracy for his career.
As such, while he’s an enormously productive scorer — particularly on a per-minute basis — the fact that we still don’t know whether he can be installed as a floor-spacer further complicates the fit between Morant and Avdija.
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Essentially: Where does Sharpe fit on this roster?
He’s not super switchable as a wing player, nor is he particularly known for his defense, even if he has taken some strides in that department.
So, if we’re being honest with ourselves here, we’re looking at a high-volume scorer who offers the exact opposite of what a traditional 3&D player does.
That’s fine, to a certain extent, but within the framework of the existing roster, it couldn’t be a worse fit. If Sharpe is to become one of the primary beneficiaries of open shots on the perimeter, do we even trust him to knock those down at a high rate?
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Sharpe can be a tremendous player, but once again, he’s someone you need to actively plan around.
Sensing a theme so far?
Christopher Nolan presents ‘The Oddity’
This roster is just weird. Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson are all still around and will have to juggle guard minutes with both Morant and Sharpe.
You can’t really move Sharpe up to the wing, as Avdija and Toumani Camara occupy those spots. The team really has no power forward, unless it wishes to play Camara there full-time, which would be wildy optimistic for the 6-foot-7 forward who relies on smarts and athleticism against much bigger players.
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The Blazers also re-signed Robert Williams III for $14 million, which raises questions about the future of second-year center Yang Hansen.
It’s all just a bit of a mess, and the plan seems to be muddy and lacking nuance. Add into the fact that new owner Tom Dundon appears hellbent on cutting costs, and this entire setup looks as though it’ll be tough sledding for Blazers fans in the coming years.
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