Pundit Shreds Trail Blazers' Team-Building Approach

Does Portland know what it's doing?

Jan 3, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) is fouled as he drives to the basket between Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) and guard Scoot Henderson (00) during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Do the Portland Trail Blazers know what they're doing?

That's a question that has plagued pundits and fans alike for years. The club arguably struggled to surround All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard with a lineup to maximize his talents, after sneaking into the 2019 Western Conference Finals. As Lillard aged and the weaknesses of the talent around him got more glaring, general managers Neil Olshey and then Joe Cronin both clung to hope that the club could quickly tank and rebuild through the draft during the final two seasons of Lillard's Portland tenure.

Finally, Lillard had to pull rip cord. The 6-foot-2 Weber State product demanded to be traded to a contender in the summer of 2023, after 11 seasons with the team. The Trail Blazers eventually complied, dealing the seven-time All-NBA honoree to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he and two-time MVP power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo led the club to a 49-33 record and the Eastern Conference's overall No. 3 seed.

The team has slowly been accruing top lottery talent, plus some intriguing young players later in the draft. In successive drafts, Portland brought in shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, point guard Scoot Henderson, and most recently center Donovan Clingan. It's unclear if any of those players can become a foundational piece, but Sharpe at least is already looking pretty promising. Across his scant 32 healthy games last year, the 6-foot-6 swingman, still just 21, averaged 15.9 points on .406/.333/.824 shooting splits, 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 0.9 steals a night.

In a new column ranking NBA franchises along a "Clarity Index" of roster-building intentionality, Howard Beck of The Ringer has harsh words for the Trail Blazers.

Beck relegates Portland to his "Fun-House Mirror Tier" for the piece. It's a spot reserved for flailing clubs like the Blazers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, and Utah Jazz, all of which Beck brands as, "Confusing, freaky, and occasionally entertaining."

"The Trail Blazers are just a year removed from the franchise-shaking decision to trade Damian Lillard and perhaps deserve some grace," Beck writes. "But this is a team that waited too long to break up the Lillard–CJ McCollum backcourt, arguably waited too long to trade Lillard, and squandered chances to flip lottery picks for veteran help when Lillard was still there. Signing Jerami Grant to a massive contract just before trading Lillard doesn’t indicate a team with clear goals. Portland has collected some promising young talent—Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons—but with a lot of overlapping skills and no obvious no. 1."

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