The Ringer put out a ranking of teams with the most promising under-25 cores. The Portland Trail Blazers are ranked 25th, ahead of the Washington Wizards and behind the Chicago Bulls.
[Ringer: Most promising under-25 cores](https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/10/13/23401647/nba-young-core-rankings-2022-23)
by gerrard_1987
7 Comments
The rankings seem based in large part on turning potential into real accomplishments, so I guess it makes sense the Blazers aren’t very high yet. The only under-25 accomplishments they have is Simons balling out on a tanker.
I was still a bit hurt to see teams like Chicago, San Antonio and Utah ahead of Portland. Their under-25s haven’t really done anything either. In regards to Miami, I wouldn’t say Herro or Jovic are more impressive than Simons and Sharpe.
>If Sharpe [plays], and that talent bubbles to the surface, this could become one of the more entertaining young scoring duos in the league. It’s “wait and see,” but the seeing is going to be very fun when and if it happens.
It’s so bizarre to read the paragraphs associated with the Blazers contain a bit of excitement, and then immediately going to the “better” young core in Chicago and reading:
>Williams still has upside, but lost almost all of last season to injuries and now might be a reserve rather than a starter. If not him, it’s unclear whether any young Bull will be able to provide meaningful support for the team’s veteran core.
Like wtf, is the writer/editor of this article not the same as the person doing the actual rankings? They seem so disconnected
Our players that qualified:
– Olivier Sarr
– Ant
– Nas
– Trendon Watford
– GB3
– Keon Johnson
– Jabari Walker
– Shaedon Sharpe
Of this list, I would say 3 players will definitely be in the NBA in five years. Two more are maybes. One allstar at best (and that’s Shaedon, and that’s all hype).
Contrast that to teams like the Cavs and Grizzlies and it’s not shocking we’re so low.
Ant is the only one of our “young core” that has even come close to proving anything so it makes sense
I mean, the Blazers’ prospects are:
Simons
Little
Johnson
Sharpe
Watford
Everyone besides Simons is completely unproven. 25th is probably harsh, but they aren’t close to top 10.
Should probably be lower tbh
Sounds about right…