Trail Blazers News: Young Portland Star's Insane Slam In Running For Dunk Of Year

Vote, why don't ya?

Dec 29, 2023; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers teammates celebrate. / Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Second-year Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe's monster slam dunk over Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler is being pushed by the team as its Dunk of the Year candidate!

Here's the blistering finish:

🚨 VOTE SHAE FOR DUNK OF THE YEAR 🚨

🏀: https://t.co/nYwyCtKJbx pic.twitter.com/ekzrccHIxg

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) April 20, 2024

Fans can vote via the link on the team's official X account.

The 6'6" swingman out of Kentucky was plagued by injuries during his second pro season this past year. In just 32 healthy games, the 20-year-old logged averages of 15.9 points on .406/.333/.824 shooting splits, five rebounds, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals a night for the 21-61 Trail Blazers.

Sharpe, who was selected with the No. 7 pick out of Kentucky (although he redshirted during his lone collegiate season) in 2022, represents a key part of Portland's exciting young core, alongside point guard Scoot Henderson, pricey center Deandre Ayton, and combo guard Anfernee Simons. Where interesting young pieces like center Duop Reath and point guard/small forward Dalano Banton rank within general manager Joe Hortiz's cumulative player evaluations remains somewhat unclear.

Portland most likely has two draft picks in the offing this summer (one is a top four-protected Golden State Warriors pick), with which it will presumably continue to add young, cheap assets.

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