The Oregonian/OregonLive is taking a player-by-player look at the Portland Trail Blazers roster heading into the offseason, assessing their value both with Damian Lillard and without him in the event the superstar were traded to trigger a rebuild.
Prior posts: Anfernee Simons; Jerami Grant; Jusuf Nurkic; Matisse Thybulle; Nassir Little; Drew Eubanks; Trendon Watford; Justise Winslow; Cam Reddish; Jabari Walker; Keon Johnson; Kevin Knox II; John Butler Jr.; Ibou Badji; Jeenathan Williams; Skylar Mays.
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Height, position, age: 6-foot-5, shooting guard, 19.
Contract status: Sharpe will make $6.3 million next season. The team has club options on Sharpe for both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.
2022-23 contributions: Sharpe, who turns 20 on May 30, appeared in 80 games with 15 starts. He averaged 9.9 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 47.2% from the field and 36% on threes.
Sharpe also provided some of the most spectacular dunks ever delivered by a Blazers player in the history of the franchise.
Fit with Lillard: Many have speculated that Sharpe could start next season alongside Lillard. However, Sharpe likely has a lot more growing pains ahead of him making him not the ideal backcourt fit next to Lillard, whose goal is to win a championship.
No team in at least 50 years has won a championship with a 20-year-old starting shooting guard. Kobe Bryant was 21 when he won his first championship in 2000 playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal, a dominant center.
Rebuild fit: Sharpe would be the centerpiece of a rebuild and face of the franchise.
He and Anfernee Simons would form a potentially special backcourt that would deliver an abundance of excitement while the franchise worked to add talent in order to build a winner in the coming years.
Trade value: The Blazers, during the final weeks of the season, shut down every player who began the season in the regular rotation except for Sharpe. That provided Sharpe an opportunity to shine and the franchise a chance to showcase his talents to the rest of the NBA.
Over the final 10 games, Sharpe averaged 23.7 points to go along with 6.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists while playing 35.9 minutes per contest. He shot 46% from the field and 37.8% on threes.
Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe (#17) throws down a one-handed dunk as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA game at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Last year, the Blazers attempted to trade the No. 7 pick in the 2023 NBA draft but could not find a deal to their liking. Using the pick on Sharpe proved immensely beneficial because he is significantly more valuable than the pick used to select him ever was.
The Blazers now face the unenviably dilemma of deciding what type of deal would be worth including Sharpe. Acquiring the types of players required to transform the Blazers into a contender could very well involve trading Sharpe. But like with Simons, the deal must be a home run.
At some point, trading Sharpe would come back to haunt. But that sting would be mitigated if doing so helped push the Blazers into the NBA Finals with Lillard leading the way.
Likelihood to return: 50/50. There is no doubt that general manager Joe Cronin and coach Chauncey Billups view Sharpe as a potential star. However, that potential likely won’t be fully realized during Lillard’s window.
The Blazers will shop Sharpe but likely won’t part with him unless they get back a multi-year all-star still in his prime. In other words, either Sharpe returns or the Blazers will have pulled off the greatest trade in franchise history.
2023-24 outlook: Let’s assume Lillard returns and Sharpe isn’t traded.
That likely means Simons, and maybe the team’s 2023 lottery pick, were dealt and the team landed enough pieces to convince Lillard the Blazers could make a deep run in the playoffs next season.
In that case, Sharpe would likely be in competition with Matisse Thybulle for the starting job at shooting guard unless the talent acquired includes a starting-caliber player at that position.
The Blazers could start Sharpe but do so knowing that should he struggle, they could go to Thybulle to provide high-end defense and veteran experience. Or the Blazers start Thybulle and use Sharpe as the focal point of the second unit while also having the option of leaving him on the court late in games in which he is thriving.
Regardless, Sharpe isn’t going to reach his full potential next season. He will merely take a major step. Patience should remain high.
Going back to Bryant, he didn’t average at least 20 points per game until his fourth season in the NBA.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook). Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts
