After trading all-time franchise leading scorer Damian Lillard, the Portland Trail Blazers have entered a rebuilding stage. The Blazers have found themselves with key promising young players such as Scoot Henderson and Shaedeon Sharpe, as well as 18 first and second-round picks between now and 2030 according to Rip City Project. Expectations about pre-season, for such a young and rebuilding team, were pretty low. The Ringer’s pre-season power rankings put the Blazers as the 27th best team in the league, and in the present, those predictions have been mostly accurate. As of recently, National Basketball Association (NBA) writer John Schuhmann ranks the Blazers as the 26th-best team in the league.
Coming out of the all-star break the Blazers currently have an average roster age of 24.2 years, according to NBAManiacs, which puts them as the third youngest team in the league. As a young and inexperienced team, consistency has been a major problem. “There’s been games where [the Blazers] get obliterated. If you’re in the NBA you’re one of the 500 best players in the world, there’s no reason to be getting smoked,” observed Colby Christiansen, a men’s varsity basketball player at Franklin.
According to Team Rankings’ overall team consistency statistic, the Blazers rank as the 20th most consistent team in the league as of Feb. 21, 2024. Offensively we have lacked a lot of the shot-making, a finishing ability the Blazers have had in previous years. Currently the team has a three-point percentage of just 0.353 and an offensive rating of 109.1, which is the second worst in the league. As Mike Richman, sports analyst, and host of the podcast Locked on Blazers put it: “They don’t have enough guys who can shoot.” More than just shooting, ball movement and a slower more methodical offense have eluded the Blazers this year. “We really struggle with slowed down offense,” Christiansen said.
As Richman put it, the team “hasn’t passed and shared the ball as well as you’d like, it’s been a lot of [isolation] play.” Even with a lackluster offense, some promising signs have been showing defensively. Richman shared: “They’re a bad basketball team, so it’s all relative, but I think they have improved on defense this year.” He continued to say, “Toumani Camara and Deandre Ayton have helped them improve on defense.” The numbers back up Richman’s claim, with a defensive rating of 118.0, putting us as the 22nd-best defensive team in the league: not great, but still an improvement compared to our offensive rating. However, the team’s defense has not been nearly good enough to make up for the lack of offense. “When your offense is bad, it leans on your defense to be really special,” said Richman.
By far, one of the biggest things most fans were looking out for was how the Blazer’s three young guard team core of Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons or Ant, and Shaedeon Sharpe were going to perform. Scoot came into this year with some analysts believing he could be the next greatest Blazer point guard. Currently, Henderson is averaging 12.9 points a game, 3.0 rebounds a game and 4.7 assists a game. His performance this year has been a bit concerning for analysts and fans. “Scoot has been generally not as good as I thought he would be, I’m not worried about him turning into a good NBA player,” Richman continued, “but if I thought he would be an All NBA type performer, his first season has not given me that same kind of confidence.”
Simons has been the driving force of our offense this year, putting up 22.9 points a game. Still, at 24, Ant taking further steps seems unlikely. “He hasn’t been bad, but it maybe has become clear he is one of the guys, not THE guy,” Richman explained. Still, this year Simons has been the driving force of our offense and has shown true signs of past Blazers greats: “you can really see the Dame and CJ influence,” said Christiansen.
Sharpe has also shown auspicious signs, averaging 15.9 points a game this year, with flashes of true greatness putting up 26 points in just the second half against the Detroit Pistons in early November. However after Sharpe’s recent injury, it’s very uncertain where his progression will take him. “He’s maybe not been as great as we thought he would be, I’m not super worried about him, but I’m bummed we’re not seeing more of him, and him getting consistently better,” Richman shared. Looking at the three of them, each one of them has their strengths. But as a trio, the three small guard lineup isn’t super effective, with not enough height and defense to truly compete in the league. As Christiansen put it, “I can see all three of them being all-stars in the coming years, I just think it’s really tough to play three small guard basketball in today’s NBA.”
Another major point of contention was Chauncey Billups’ coaching. Billups has had a tumultuous time with the Blazers, yet his connection with them seems to be rock solid. Christiansen explained: “You can see his improvement as a coach in terms of in-game adjustments and schemes, and since day one he’s had an uncanny ability to connect with players.” Richman, on the other hand, is “not super impressed with Billups,” further elaborating: “[Billups] seems like a pretty good defensive coach, but not a very creative offensive coach, the lack of creativity on offense has held the Blazers back a little bit.” The true role of coaches in a team’s success is largely unknown to the public.
However, from an outside perspective, Billups seems highly effective at gaining the respect of the players and teaching discipline. But he falls short of the strategic minds of coaches like the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers coach Nick Nurse. As of now with a young team not looking to compete this is probably fine, but looking toward the future, Billups’ time with the Blazers is very uncertain.
Deandre Ayton is another player of massive importance to the organization. When he was traded to the Blazers from the Phoenix Suns many hoped he could take a leap that he never really took. “I thought he was going to be better” said Richman. Still, he has been a solid player putting up 13.8 points a game and 10.4 rebounds a game, performing highly effectively when in the right situations. “He needs help out there, not a guy who does it on his own, he needs people to get him the ball,” as Richman put it.
Players like Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon have provided consistent and necessary points for the Blazers, with Grant scoring 21.7 a game and Brogdon putting up 15.7 a game. As Richman put it, “he’s just so solid.” Jabari Walker has provided rebounding, putting up 6.4 rebounds a game. Matisse Thybulle and Toumani Camara have provided crucial defense, and level-headedness. “[Camara is] a rookie, but he [kind of] carries himself like a veteran,” said Christiansen.
Fan favorites like Duop Reath have kept the Moda Center’s atmosphere as electric as ever. “Portland is a great basketball city, the fans love it, whenever there are close games the place still gets loud,” said Christiansen.
Overall, the year has gone about as expected. As fans, it’s important to remember that this is practically year one of a rebuild, and with that context, the promising flashes we have seen are something to be excited about. As Richman put it: “It’s ok they’re not very good.” Compared to expectations, Christiansen believes we are above pace, giving the Blazers a season grade of a B. Richman is slightly more critical of the Blazers’ performance, giving them a C- grade on the year. While it’s impossible to ignore the grave inconsistencies on offense, and the only moderately better defense, the heart and potential shown by such a young team is undeniable, earning them a season grade of a C+.
