Expert Predicts Blazers Will be Among Least Fun Teams to Watch This Year

Can Portland surprise pundits?

Oct 18, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) is helped up during the second half by teammates Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9), left, and guard Anfernee Simons (1) against the Utah Jazz at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

There are two kinds of bad teams in the NBA: fun-bad clubs and depressingly bad clubs.

It's unclear where the 2024-25 vintage of the Portland Trail Blazers will land, but Ben Golliver of The Washington Post certainly doesn't seem particularly enthused.

"Coach Chauncey Billups is on the hot seat after three demoralizing seasons because he hasn’t been able to fashion a team out of disappointing parts," writes Golliver. "Portland appears headed for another shameless tank unless Anfernee Simons can finally stay healthy, Deandre Ayton can step forward as a more effective leader and Scoot Henderson can look much less lost than he did as a rookie."

The Trail Blazers have tanked since the end of the 2021-22 NBA season. It's been a relatively joyless affair since All-Star point guard Damian Lillard demanded a trade out of town in the summer of 2023. His play (when he was healthy) helped Portland qualify as fun-bad. In his absence, the 2023-24 Trail Blazers were pretty miserable. Then-rookie point guard Scoot Henderson, Portland's prized No. 3 pick after two tantalizing seasons with the G League Ignite, had a disappointing start to his playing career. New veteran centers Ayton and Robert Williams III were plagued by injuries, as were exciting hyper-athletic shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe and then-reigning Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon.

This year's Blazers club has gotten younger and perhaps more promising. As Golliver notes, there's hope that Henderson can take a step up this season. Sharpe is hurt at present with a shoulder issue, but is expected to suit up again by mid-November.

There are two critical new pieces who could have a lot to say relative to the team's watchability level.

7-foot-2 rookie center Donovan Clingan, selected with the No. 7 pick out of the University of Connecticut in June's 2024 NBA Draft, already emerged as a rebounding machine during Summer League and the preseason, and seems destined to eventually replaced the 26-year-old Ayton and Williams as the team's center of the future. Fourth-string five Duop Reath, a 27-year-old rookie last year, also looked like a legitimate NBA player. If Williams and/or Ayton can stay healthy and impress this year, it seems likely that Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin could look to offload those vets for young assets.

Starting small forward Deni Avdija, acquired in an offseason trade that saw Brogdon get shipped out to the Washington Wizards, has looked like a more multifaceted player than fans perhaps had expected. At just 23, the 6-foot-9 wing could be a serious building block for Portland's future.

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