Trail Blazers Ditching ROOT Sports As Broadcast Partner

Portland is gearing up to make a major change.

Apr 14, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Dalano Banton (5) dribbles the ball in front of Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) in the first quarter at the Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Portland Trail Blazers are ending their local television broadcast rights deal with longtime home ROOT Sports, reports Danny Marang of 1080 The Fan Portland.

"Trail Blazers basketball will no longer air on ROOT Sports, but we thank ROOT Sports for years of great partnership," Portland revealed in a statement, per Marang. The Trail Blazers subsequently teased an impending new broadcast partner, without divulging who that would be. "An exciting announcement on the future television home of Blazers basketball will be made soon."

Last season, the Trail Blazers didn't exactly have a run worth watching. Last summer, Portland drafted highly-touted rookie point guard Scoot Henderson with the No. 3 pick, the team's highest draft selection since former Ohio State standout Greg Oden (selected at No. 1 over Kevin Durant, Al Horford, his teammate Mike Conley, and Joakim Noah in 2007).

But the 6-foot-3 former G League Ignite standout struggled to make a particularly efficient scoring impact, and struggled defensively. Across 62 contests, Henderson averaged 14.0 points while slashing .385/.325/.819 shooting splits, 5.4 assists (against 3.4 turnovers), 3.1 rebounds, and 0.8 steals a night. He missed out on being named to an All-Rookie team.

Portland finished with the Western Conference's No. 15 seed and a tanktastic 21-61 record, but only managed to nab the seventh pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. However, the Trail Blazers managed to snag an absolute steal, former University of Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan, with that selection. The 7-foot-2 big man, 20, was a 2024 Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention and two-time NCAA champion during his two collegiate seasons.

The Trail Blazers don't seem likely to be much better this year, however.

Clingan joins a roster with, at present, a whopping three other rotation-caliber centers. Deandre Ayton, the 2018 No. 1 draft pick, is the projected starting five for Portland, earning a team-most $34 million in 2024-25. Former All-Defensive Second Team center Robert Williams III and intriguing second-year five Duop Reath are also quality players at the same position. None of these players, aside from perhaps Reath, would really make much rotational sense anywhere else than at center.

Henderson is expected to move to a bench role behind former starting shooting guard Anfernee Simons, who could get slotted to the point guard position. 2022 lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe, who stands at 6-foot-7, is slated to jump at the two spot.

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