Expert Optimistic Blazers Can Improve from Being Among NBA's Worst in Key Category

It would certainly help Portland look a bit better on one side of the floor.

Apr 12, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) reacts with teammate forward Justin Minaya (24) after dunking the basketball during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers were bad in a lot of capacities last year, as they have been for all three of their seasons under head coach Chauncey Billups. The club was built to lose by general manager Joe Cronin heading into last year, loaded with a few overpriced veterans and a boatload of very raw young players.

Defense has frequently been cited as a major problem for Portland. Only two Blazers players among the team's rotation last year (technically) were plus defenders, in power forward Jerami Grant and backup center Robert Williams III. Williams, only played six games, unfortunately for the club's frontcourt defense.

But defense was just part of the issue.

Portland had its problems on the other side of the ball, too. In a pace-and-space era, loaded with fastbreak offenses and high-volume 3-point shooting, the Trail Blazers were woefully limited from deep.

In 2023-24, the Trail Blazers connected on 11.5 of 32.1 attempted long range attempts a night (35.8 percent). Only the worst team in the league last year, the Detroit Pistons, and the defense-first Orlando Magic, made fewer triples, with 11.0 per. The reigning champion Boston Celtics led the league with 16.5 made triples on 42.5 tries per bout.

There is at least some optimism that the 2024-25 vintage of the team, though it's probably still going to be destined for the 2025 NBA Draft lottery, will at least be more competent in converting its long range tries. Dan Titus of Yahoo Sports things that the club will turn things around this year.

"Portland made the 28th-most three-pointers per game in 2023-24," Titus writes. "It’s surprising, considering the team boasts three-point specialists Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant, but the rest of the roster failed to convert consistently from beyond the arc. Scoot Henderson has clear room for improvement in his efficiency across the board, and Shaedon Sharpe is also due for positive regression in that department. New addition Deni Avdija shot a career-best [37.6 percent] from downtown last season, so Portland’s 3-point makes should tick up during the 2024-25 campaign."

Last year, Simons alone took a robust 8.8 3-point attempts, connecting on 38.5 percent of those looks. Grant took 5.1 long range tries, nailing 40.2 percent of them, in his 54 healthy games during Portland's generally ill-fated 2023-24 run.

Henderson, a rookie last year, made just 32.5 percent of his 4.3 long range looks, both numbers that could use some boosting in his sophomore season. Sharpe made a below-average 33.3 percent 3-point attempts last year on 5.6 tries, but connected on a solid 36 percent of his 3.5 looks as a rookie in 2022-23.

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