4 More Big Questions Facing the Trail Blazers in 2023-24

ThePortland Trail Blazersenter the 2023-24 regular season with a new roster, a new game plan, and absolutely no track record with either to their name. It’s an exciting time for the franchise, but also one wracked with variables and uncertainty. We’ll see how their plans pan out over the course of 82 games. Chances are, it’ll be a work in progress.

Earlier today wetalked about three critical questionsfacing the team this year. On top of that, here are four more potential inflection points that also matter.

Shaedon Sharpe, Boom or Bust?

The Trail Blazers didn’t know exactly what they were getting when they selected untried guard Shaedon Sharpe seventh overall in the 2022NBA Draft. Over the course of his rookie season, Sharpe proved that he could jump out of the gym. His dunks will blow back your hair. The occasional inability to make basic plays will cause you to lose it, too.

Highlight-reel moments made Sharpe a fan favorite. How much that translates into bankable, win-oriented NBA basketball remains up in the air. Sharpe doesn’t have to morph into final form this season, but progress is mandatory. He’ll need to prove he’s a diamond in the making, not cubic zirconia.

At his best, Sharpe forecasts as an unstoppable starter. He’s got the height, athleticism, and confidence to destroy opponents on a nightly basis. If the foundation isn’t there, though, he becomes a Gerald Green-like figure, always welcome on a roster but seldom making the impact promised by his potential.

This is not an unusual story for lottery-pick sophomores, but the distance between amazing and aggravating is wider for Sharpe than for most, by virtue of his relative lack of high-level experience. The Blazers will need Sharpe’s floor to rise as he reaches towards that boundless ceiling. Otherwise they’re going to have a hard time playing him while keeping a straight face.

Threes Please?

For years, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Anfernee Simons gave Portland a hydra-like three-point attack. Together Lillard and Simons averaged 20.4 three-point attempts per game last year. Their shots beyond the arc accounted for almost 18% of Portland’s total field goal attempts for the season. That’s a lot, especially when you consider that each sat out about a quarter of the year.

Portland doesn’t have that kind of attack anymore. Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon are likely to be their best three-point threats by percentage. Neither is a volume shooter, though. Deandre Ayton and Scoot Henderson don’t have that shot in their arsenal. Shaedon Sharpe is just average. That leaves Simons as the lone high-octane point-producer beyond the arc.

如果开拓者不能生成一个可信的威胁from distance, opponents will simply pack the paint against Henderson and Ayton. At that point, Portland will be left bailing out to Grant or Simons in the halfcourt. Each can generate offense. Neither can carry the team to wins with their scoring, or at least not that we’ve seen yet.

Three-point shooting is one of the more commonly-developed skills around the league. Portland may want to get an early start on it. Otherwise we might see the shell of their intended offense without the fruits to show for it on the scoreboard.

Can Chauncey Billups Coach?

It feels like we’ve been asking the same question since Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups was hired back in 2021: Can he really coach? Billups came into the league with zero head coaching experience. He was tasked with growing a playoffs contender around the now-departed Lillard. The Blazers got two trips to the lottery instead.

The vast majority of Portland’s roster is age 25 or under this season. Billups’ mission now switches to player development. Progress will replace the postseason on the list of achievable goals.

Will the coach prove more apt in this area than he did in coaxing victories out of his former rosters? He has plenty to balance. He can’t abandon winning altogether without losing integrity and denting the team’s culture. How many big-losing years can the Blazers endure before it becomes habit? But milking every possible win out of the season won’t matter as much as the status of Portland’s players in March. Portland winning 33 instead of 29 isn’t discernable. Deandre Ayton, Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe performing well is.

I’m not sure we know what the Blazers are asking out of their head coach this year. He’s going to have to beat a new path with his team. That’s hard during the crucible of an 82-game season.

Chances are we’re going to be asking this question next year as well. I’m not sure we can hope for perfection. Maybe emphasizing the right priorities will be enough...whatever those are.

More Trades?

The Blazers made their big move by trading Lillard to theMilwaukee Bucks, then moving Jrue Holiday to theBoston Celtics, for a haul of Deandre Ayton, Malcolm Brogdon, assorted players, and future draft picks.

Speculation is rampant that the front office isn’t done yet. Brogdon is a veteran. He remains a likely candidate for trade, if not immediately, at least before the February deadline. Jerami Grant’s name has been whispered as well. Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe both play the same position. All of these players would be attractive on the trade market. Each also plays a vital role in Portland’s present and/or future.

No move this season will alter the team’s current story. There’s no path to contention, or even relevance in the standings, in 2023-24. But trades—or lack thereof—could well indicate the scope and length of Portland’s rebuilding project. Their moves will indicate whether they anticipate making a leap in the next year or two or whether they’re starting three to four years out, banking on the draft picks they got from the Lillard deal to carry them at the end of the decade.

We’ve shared seven questions today so far, but we could have named a dozen more. What issues and variables come to your mind when you think about the Blazers this year? Share in the comments section below!