Portland Trailblazers Are A True Wild Card!
One of the teams I’m most excited to watch next season is the Portland Trailblazers. Mainly because they have a lot of fun young talent with potential. Scoot Henderson, Shaden Sharp are the headliners for the young core. But then you got Donovan Cllingan, Tammani Kamara, and of course the rookie sensation, Young Hunson. Notice I didn’t even mention their best player from last season, aka Denny Abdia. Reason being, he honestly feels like a vet for them. He certainly plays like one, but he’s still super young, fits into their young core, just 24 years old, and really had moments last season where he felt like a number one guy. Along with that, they have some nice vets such as Jeremy Grant, Robert Williams, and of course, Drew Holiday, their big addition this off season. There is definitely some hope in the air for them being the surprise team of the NBA season. I wouldn’t be shocked if they made the playoffs. And as a Sixers fan, I really envy their fan base for next season because they’re in the no expectation era. But at the same time, it feels like they are finally trending upward, closer and closer to making it back to the playoffs with a new young group that plays a fun brand of basketball when they are at their best. That’s the most underrated time to be a fan in my eyes. And I fully believe they can catch some magic. Remember when Minnesota won the playin a few years back and Pat Bev was celebrating like they won the NBA finals because they haven’t been to the playoffs in a while. I wouldn’t be shocked if they have that type of season. And maybe, just maybe, they really catch lightning in a bottle and have a 2023 Kings type season where they were randomly the third seed. Or how about the 2025 Rockets? The Blazers low-key have something brewing kind of like those two teams. Bear with me for this one. So, looking back at what made those seasons possible for the Kings and the Rockets last season is they both had an identity. For the Kings, it was played super fast with constant ball movement, in dribble handoffs, and it resulted in the number one offense. And then, of course, for the Rockets, it was all about defense, defense, defense. But also on both of those teams, everyone bought in. Everyone was having fun. Then once they started winning for the Kings, the fan base really took them to another level because they themselves started to believe. Honestly, every home game started to feel like a playoff game. I could see the Portland fan base doing that if there is consistent early season success and a chance to make the playoffs. Now, obviously, I don’t see the Blazers being the number one offense like the Kings. They’re more so like the Rockets. And as the season ended, you saw what they want to be moving forward. You saw an identity growing that can lead to regular season success. Aka, everyone on the court is going to try hard defensively and will be something on that end of the floor. Postall-star break, the Blazers were fourth in defensive rating. A drastic improvement from the first half of the year where they were ranked 24th pre-allar break. They had a twomonth stretch from January to February where they went 16 and 12 with a top five defense. Now to end the year, they kind of reverted back to what they were to begin the season. Was that on purpose for tanking? Who knows? But I mean, look at what this type of identity did for the Houston Rockets last season. Their defense carried them to a top seed in the Western Conference because my goodness, their offense was embarrassing. But in all seriousness, that winning stretch is something to build off of. Defense will be their calling card as a team, and adding Drew Holiday will help establish that defensive identity, and his knowledge will do wonders for a guy like Tammani Kamar, who is a budding alldefensive type of player. Obviously, Drew is on the downswing of his career, but defensively, he’s still very useful. He also won’t demand the ball. He will only help the young guys grow on both ends. And with what it seems like they want to be as a team moving forward, he’s a perfect addition because his style is exactly that. Overall, as a team, they should just have much more confidence in themselves in terms of being competitive and believing. And that’s always the first step in terms of turning into a winning team. Now, let’s go over players I really believe in. Of course, Denny. I I mean, he’s a proven player. He can help a championship contender. Definitely would be best served as a number three rather than a number one for sure, but his current status with Portland should really help his growth in terms of reaching his potential. We can see how far he can get with all this freedom and responsibility. He’s really just a coach’s dream, a two-way player who can literally do everything. Post All-Star break in 20 games he was averaging 23.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists per game while shooting 50.8% from the field, and 41.7% from three. The next step for him is doing that over the entire season. Maybe not at that level, maybe not at that efficiency, but close to it. I really believe he’s capable of it, and I think last season he realized that himself. Next up, we got Tammani. I mean, this guy is a part of the Alex Caruso archetype that every team is trying to find now after OKC won the title. He would guard the best player every single night. Pick up full court if he has to pick up at half court. And also last season, he made strides as a shooter. He shot 37.5% while upping his volume from three 4.6 three-pointers attempted per game. just a winning elite role player who can have star level impact depending on the matchup. I also really enjoy Donovan Klingan’s game. His impact is obvious. Defensively, it’s kind of like Rudy Goar, Mitchell Robinson, those types of players. Offensive players really do not enjoy challenging him at the rim. And the craziest thing is they usually won his minutes. Only -2 in the plus minus category over the season. Pretty crazy for a losing team. and then without him 242. The defensive rating was 112.4 with him on the court. Meanwhile, 116.3 with him off. My concern with him would be conditioning and also can his body handle high minutes. He’s massive, 7’2, 280 lb. Will he have the Mitchell Robinson problem? Aka, if you raise his minutes, he can’t stay healthy or be as impactful as the game goes on. We will just have to wait and see for that to be answered. Then you got Yang Hansen. Come on now. He’s the next Yic. Enough said. I will admit I’m still up in the air on Scoot Henderson and Shaden Sharp in terms of them being stars. I think they both have proven they are quality NBA players already, but can they reach that next level is the real question. It’s prove it year for both of them in that regard. They each have had stretches over their young career where you see the star potential that they can contribute to a winning team. Scoot as a starter last season, I I mean he was cooking in 10 games as a starter, 16.2 points, 6.5 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 43.5% from three. The biggest question mark for him is of course three-point shooting on and off the basketball. He’s been a career 34% three-point shooter while not really being respected from deep by the defense throughout his NBA career. I really believe in his hustle, effort, and defense becoming above average. I’m worried about how consistent he can be offensively. Now, for Shaden Sharp, it’s the opposite. Scoring isn’t the problem. I I mean, this dude can obviously score the basketball. It’s more so attention to detail. Can he impact the game outside of scoring? and can he be an even defender or above average defensively? His effort and attention to detail on that end of the floor has wavered at times. If both of them hit and reach another level, my goodness, Portland is in good hands. And these two are the pathway to finding something offensively next season. And that’s all they need because the defense is in a great place. Definitely let me know your thoughts below. Do you think Portland can be the surprise of the NBA next season?
NBA Breakdown & News
Social Media
Twitter- https://twitter.com/OfficialRomp
