Portland and Los Angeles Offseason Guides

Portland Trailblazers

The Portland Trailblazers started the season kind of rough again, not surprising. They managed to kill some confidence in Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe with the up-and-down play from both of these players. Chauncey Billups seemed to rile up the fan base with his lackluster rotations and schemes on the floor. However, towards late December, Portland seemed to figure it out. They were able to go on a 9-1 stretch with the number 2-ranked defense in that same period. Toumani Camara earned his nickname, the box, Deni Avjida looked like Giannis in transition, and Scoot Henderson was able to figure out the feel and pace of playing point guard in the NBA. While they finished the season 36-46, they showed lots of promise for the upcoming regular season. Add in Yang Hansen in the draft, and the Blazers have had a fun offseason so far.

Financially, the Blazers are in a good spot so far. They currently have $186 million allocated to the roster for the upcoming season; however, the one thing that could be at through a negative context is waiving De’Andre Ayton. Ayton will be owed $25 million in the upcoming season. A disappointing end to an interesting relationship between the two sides. However, they traded away Anfernee Simons to create minutes in the backcourt for Sharpe and Henderson; however, they added a nice defender and veteran presence in Jrue Holiday in return, a trade I like for the Blazers and believe will help both Henderson and Sharpe. Camara will also see an advantage in this addition as he gets to learn from another All-NBA defender. The Blazers finally ended their offseason with the cherry on top by adding back franchise legend Damian Lillard. Lillard suffered a torn Achilles in the postseason last year with the Bucks and was waived and stretched by the franchise once free agency began. The two sides agreed to a 3-year $42 million deal with a player option in the third season, which leads to another way to restructure the contract as well. Portland owns a majority of its first-round picks through 2031, with one going to Washington in 2029 as part of the draft night trade last year involving Avjida. They still have picks coming from the Bucks in the next couple of seasons as well. 

From a player development perspective, this will revolve around a collection of players in Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Donovan Clingnan, and Toumani Camara. Henderson is probably the most important piece in the Blazers' core, as they spent a 3rd overall pick on him in the 2023 draft. The shooting went up compared to the year before, as he reached 35.4% from 3. He’s up in finishing at the basket from 46% to 55% and has much more feel in the pick and roll game, compared to a season ago. A guy that I was admittedly out on at the beginning of the 2024-2025 season, I am back in on after a very productive December and on. I think the next steps for him will be his passing and reduce some of the turnovers he has in games. There are times when he struggles with reads, and the defense sees where he is going with passes, making him easy to read; however, towards the end of the season, he cut those types of turnovers down and saw much more success in games. Sharpe is another guy I love for the Blazers. This season is very important for him as he is playing for the next contract in a rookie extension for the year after, but eh shown some flashes of the scoring ability he can provide. The outside shooting went down around 31% from 3 this season for Sharpe, which isn’t great and has tumbled since his first season in the league; however, he is very solid playing off the ball. This past year, he played a lot more on the ball and showed he can create his shot, as he had a career-high in unassisted field goals made. He shot 68% at the rim this past year, and I think he will be a fun guy to watch attack the basket. His athleticism makes him capable of finishing over anyone. Hopefully, the shooting comes back and the playmaking takes the next steps, but I am very excited about him this upcoming season. Clingnan is the stud at the center position, defensively he is already above league average in rim protection, now is time for the offense to next its next steps. The back-to-the-basket game is not good right now, and he struggled finishing at times over guys when he didn’t have a clear advantage. His foot speed is not very quick, which makes him rely more on skill, and that is the area that needs improvement for him. His ability to become a nice 12-14 points per game guy while offering elite-level rim protection will make the 7th overall pick from a year ago pretty fun. I am almost positive he and Hansen won’t be able to play together either because neither can defend on the perimeter. The final guy I am most interested in arguably took the biggest leap from last year in Camara. He made the All-NBA 2nd team, all-defense in just his second season, and he also took another step in shooting at 37% from 3 on 4.6 attempts per game. His driving probably involves some cleaning up, as he can get out of control at times and doesn’t allow for his process of what is happening, but it’s still fun. Adding to the offensive game is his step overall. The Blazers are going to be fun, mark my words, I think they have a real chance to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, even if I am delusional.