The Portland Trail Blazers are willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild. That was demonstrated when general manager Joe Cronin traded the $22.5 million salary of 2023 Sixth Man of the Year point guard Malcolm Brogdon earlier this summer to the Washington Wizards in exchange for younger, cheaper forward Deni Avdija. The fact that Cronin was willing to settle for a lottery pick to do so may have been the price of doing business, but that didn’t make this particular transaction any less brutal.
One player who seems likely to benefit from a little more (or maybe a lot more) playing time down the stretch is third-year guard Shaedon Sharpe.
Chris Dodson of ClutchPoints argues that the 6-foot-6 redshirt former Kentucky Wildcat is poised to reach a new level of prolific scoring in year three.
As a rookie in 2022-23, the 6-foot-6 wing only appeared in 32 games. He saw his scoring production jump by 9.9 points on a .472/.360/.714 hitting line, 3.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.5 steals per game. Last season, Sharpe saw that production increase significantly, despite only being healthy enough to play in 32 games (25 starts). In 33.1 minutes per night of action, he averaged 15.9 points on a .406/.333/.824 shooting average, 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 0.9 steals per night.
“With Scoot setting the table better, Sharpe is going to make more shots this season. Just one more basket per half puts the 21-year-old Canadian in the 20-point-per-game range, making him an elite offensive option,” Dodson wrote. Assuming he can put up that level of production, the 21-year-old is at least capable of making a major impact on a team lacking in scoring assistance.
“Bold Prediction: Sharpe will take a significant leap forward in his development, becoming a primary scoring option for the Trail Blazers,” Dodson added. “Expect him to average over 20 points per game, demonstrating a scoring versatility that scares many Western Conference contenders.”
Portland finished 21-61 last season and isn’t really trying to improve in 2024-25. Prioritizing a youth movement — and putting the ball in the hands of Sharpe and young point guard Scott Henderson as much as possible — should help the Trail Blazers achieve their dual goals of being bad in the short term and developing their promising young lottery picks in the long term.
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