The Portland Trail Blazers took the latter half of last season to begin their roster remake around Damian Lillard with the added benefit of losing enough games to fall into the No. 7 overall pick, with which they selected one-and-done Kentucky guard Shaedon Sharpe. This summer they continued the process of building a more versatile, defensive oriented supporting cast.
Did all the turnover make the Blazers better, worse, or just different? That's what we'll find out this season as Portland tries to crawl back into its normal position of top-half contention in the always-brutal Western Conference playoff race.
Below is a look at Portland's additions, losses and roster heading into preseason, followed by three key storylines to watch for as the season develops.
Key changes
- Additions: Jerami Grant, Gary Payton II, Shaedon Sharpe, Jabari Walker
- Losses: Ben McLemore, Dennis Smith Jr.
Roster
| Player | Position | Age |
|---|---|---|
Greg Brown III | Forward | 21 |
Forward | 25 | |
Forward | 25 | |
Jerami Grant | Forward | 28 |
Guard | 27 | |
Forward | 27 | |
Guard | 20 | |
Damian Lillard | Guard | 32 |
Forward | 22 | |
Guard | 23 | |
Center | 28 | |
Gary Payton II | Guard | 29 |
Forward | 23 | |
Center | 23 | |
Shaedon Sharpe | Guard | 19 |
Guard | 23 | |
Jabari Walker | Forward | 20 |
Forward | 21 | |
Guard | 22 | |
Forward | 26 |
Top of the Key: Defense
Defense became Portland's full focus beginning last February, when it traded CJ McCollum and Norman Powell and brought back potential starting small forward Josh Hart, and into this summer with the additions of Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II. The Blazers won't be a great defensive team; they might not even be a good one. But they need to field at least an average defense to provide some measure of support to what could again be an elite offense.
There's reason for hope. For starters, Payton is an elite defender who can wreak havoc 1-5. You can legit switch him onto Nikola Jokic and he'll make life hell on the two-time MVP. There aren't enough superlatives for Payton as a defender. He's a guy who can single-handedly change the energy of an entire roster.
After Payton, Hart and Grant are established defenders. Nassir Little, Keon Johnson and Justise Winslow all bring athletic size; Little could really pop this season.
For all the work the Blazers did to build a defensive bubble around their backcourt, they still face the same challenge of compensating for two small guards who don't defend particularly well in Lillard and Anfernee Simons. Defense, especially in the postseason, is as much -- if not more -- about your weakest link(s) as it is your strongest. If the Blazers intend to defend at a passable level, Lillard and Simons will have to pull their weight, particularly as the Blazers will be deploying a lot of small lineups with Jusuf Nurkic as the only real center.
Next up: Dame's new wingman
Simons, whom the Blazers signed to a four-year, $100 million contract this summer, is the new McCollum, and he can flat-out score. Over a two-month span from early January to early March, he averaged over 23 points per game on 46-42-87 splits. Per 36 minutes, Simons averaged better than 21 points on 40 percent 3-point shooting last season, and he did all of this without Lillard around to absorb defensive attention.
In theory, once defenses disproportionately shift their focus back to Lillard, life will get that much easier for Simons, who registered in the 83rd and 91st percentiles each of the last two seasons in points per 100 shot attempts, per Cleaning the Glass.
Even more encouraging, Simons sunk a blistering 51.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s last year. With Lillard in the Steph Curry role drawing multiple defenders, Simons has the makings of a Klay Thompson-like wingman waiting and ready to fire if Portland is able to consistently tap into the 4-on-3 ball swings.
One more thing: Shaedon Sharpe
The biggest wild card in the 2022 draft class might be Sharpe, whom the Blazers took with the No. 7 overall selection. He didn't play a single college game. He went from an unranked recruit to the No. 1 ranked high school player in his class after completely blowing up for the same AAU team for which the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett once starred.
Sharpe is an eye-popping athlete. There are reports, though unverified, of Sharpe carding a 49-inch vertical leap. That's more air than Michael Jordan. Split hairs if you want, maybe it was 46 inches. Either way, the dude can fly. And he can shoot it, too. There's almost zero actual footage to trust on Sharpe. The competition level he's faced so far doesn't lend itself to meaningful evaluation. But the positional size, skill and athleticism are undeniable.
Portland is playing to win now. Sharpe may not get many minutes. Then again, he might be worthy of all the hype and pop right away as a contributor.
Key games
Let's face it. After not having Lillard in uniform since December, a key game is any one that will feature Dame on the floor. Based on our projections, the Blazers don't figure to be a team that'll be making a deep run into April, but all eyes will be on (and in) Portland for the Blazers' three nationally-televised matchups.
