Trail Blazer players want to ‘win now,’ but that won’t happen
Rebounding and shot-blocking are No. 1 draft pick Donovan Clingan’s forte
Updated 10/3/2024 12:15 AM
The Trail Blazers’ annual media day was held Monday in the Fountain Room at Memorial Coliseum. It is a building that conjures visions of Bill Walton and Clyde Drexler and Billy Ray Bates and Geoff Petrie and even Petur Gudmundson and LaRue Martin, who once roamed the courts on which the Blazers then called home.
Don’t look now, but the 55th season of NBA basketball in Portland is around the corner. Practice began Tuesday, the preseason opener is Friday in Seattle against the L.A. Clippers, and the regular season tips off on Oct. 18 versus Utah at Moda Center.
For the uninitiated members of the Fourth Estate, Monday’s press-conference verbiage might have been confusing. The players talked about winning games — lots of games — this season. General manager Joe Cronin took a different route, pleading patience through this continuing period of “development” with a focus on “the long term” and “the big picture.”
When last we saw the Blazers play a basketball game, they were being annihilated 121-82 at Sacramento on April 17. Portland, intending to lose that game to improve their standings in the upcoming draft, finished the 2023-24 season 21-61. It was the franchise’s worst record since going 21-61 in 2005-06 and tied for second-worst all-time, better only than the 18-64 mark in the second season (1971-72).
Over the Blazers’ last three seasons, they are 81-165, which ranks among the worst three-consecutive campaigns in franchise history. In each of the last three seasons, they have played out the season in tank mode, holding out some of their best players due to “injury” in order to position themselves for the draft.
It is not unusual for teams near the bottom of the standings to tank out a season. Those teams generally begin to recover after three bad years. This will be a fourth one for Portland, and perhaps an historic one. In its preseason predictions for the upcoming season, Bleacher Report forecasts a record of 15-67, worst in the league, perhaps understanding what is at stake for such an achievement.
The prize for winning the 2025 draft lottery is Cooper Flagg, a 6-9, 205-pound freshman forward at Duke who is said to be a generational talent. Even if a team doesn’t get the first pick, the 2025 draft class is deep enough to cause NBA scouts to drool. It includes the likes of a pair of Rutgers freshmen — 6-9 Ace Bailey and 6-5 Dylan Harper — Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe (from The Bahamas) and French guard Nolan Traore.
Even if the Blazers didn’t have intentions to tank, they wouldn’t be good enough to escape the lottery. They are the NBA’s third-youngest team, behind only Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The senior statesman is forward Jerami Grant, 30. The team is being built around guards Scoot Henderson (20) and Shaedon Sharpe (21), and perhaps Anfernee Simons (25).
“We have a roster that we really like,” Cronin said Monday. “We are happy where we are right now, but we love where we are headed.”
In his fourth season at the Blazer helm, Coach Chauncey Billups is between a rock and a hard place. Billups is entering the final guaranteed year of a contract he signed in 2021. The Blazers haven’t picked up a team option, meaning Billups is in a lame-duck situation.
Coach Chauncey Billups enters a lame-duck season hoping owner Jody Allen and GM Joe Cronin recognize his team’s plight and decide to offer him a contract extension
Do Cronin and owner Jody Allen regard him as the team’s coach of the future? Will they take into account the not-ready-for-prime-time roster he is working with? Or are they being cheap as they await the hiring of Billups’ successor after the 2024-25 season?
Billups said he can’t worry about it.
“I don’t think it matters what year you are in,” he said. “First year of your deal, last year — it’s all the same. Got to go do the job. What I am most proud of, I am light years ahead of where I was when I took this microphone three years ago. I have learned a lot. I feel so much different. I feel more prepared as a head coach now.
“I am not concerned with being in the last year of my deal. I know what we are up against — so young and inexperienced. … I am not unrealistic. Joe is not unrealistic. Jody is not unrealistic. I don’t need to find lightning in a bottle. I just have to keep doing the job.”
Cronin wasn’t about to directly answer a question about Billups’ future with the club.
“This season is a challenge for all of us,” said Cronin, in his third full season as the team’s GM. “We all need to take steps. There is not much we can point to from last year as far as where we are. Circumstances led to us not being very productive. This year, the challenge for Chauncey, the challenge for myself is to take steps toward being very conscious to where we are headed. That would be a successful year.
“We have talent on the roster but a lot of untapped potential. There are multiple steps our young guys must make. There are a lot of veterans who have at least one, maybe two more big steps in them (individually). Our goal is to keep developing these guys and get them as good as possible. Throughout our time here, we have been working hard to establish the totality of connectivity, competitiveness, grit, high character. We will continue to build on that.
“We know this season will have its ups and downs. We like who we are, but we know we are not ready to win at a high level yet. We want to continue to build that foundation for the long term so we can have sustainable success. We would love to win as quickly as possible, but we are committed to doing it the right way. We don’t want to skip major steps in order to lower our ceiling. The more patient we can be, the more we can raise our ceiling.”
The Blazers have been in the lottery the last three drafts, taking Sharpe at No. 7 in 2022, Henderson at No. 3 in 2023 and 7-2 center Donovan Clingan of Connecticut at No. 7 in 2024.
“Until those guys take steps toward playing winning basketball, we are still not going to be at the level we need to,” Cronin said. “So part of it is up to them. It’s, ‘When will you take steps and impact the game instead of just showing flashes or having a good five-game run?’ ”
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The Blazers enter the season with a payroll of about $179.1 million, 17th highest in the league. They are well over the salary cap of $149.6 million — every team but Detroit is outspending that standard — and just above the luxury tax threshold (first apron) of $178.1 million. Cuts through the season will get them under that mark and keep them protected from the various penalties they would incur.
Three veterans command a lion’s share of the payroll — center Deandre Ayton ($34 million), Grant ($29.8 million) and Simons ($25.9 million). The trio is penciled in as starters along with Sharpe and newly acquired forward Deni Avdija. Billups could also choose to start Henderson, the No. 3 pick of the 2023 draft who is entering his second season.
New addition Deni Avidja is ticketed for starting duty at the power forward spot for the Blazers
Billups isn’t tipping his cap about how he will use his backcourt trio of Simons, Sharpe and Henderson. The 6-3 Simons could start at either guard spot.
“Those guys are maybe the biggest part of our future with the organization,” Billups said. “They all have All-Star potential. We are going to need those guys to be out there on the floor, to take some steps and get better. We can’t emphasize that enough.”
Simons, already in his seventh NBA season, averaged a career-high 22.6 points in 46 games a year ago.
“My individual goals haven’t changed — being an All-Star and stuff like that,” he said. “For the team, it is about getting better, competing at a high level every night and seeing where that takes us.”
Henderson gave a brief response when I asked him how important it was to him to be a starter.
“That’s not my decision to make,” the 6-3 point guard said. “I will control what I can. That’s practicing, playing my game, having fun.”
But it is clear that Henderson intends to make his presence felt after a rookie season in which he averaged 14.0 points and 5.4 assists but shot only .385 from the field and .325 from 3-point range.
“It didn’t change my outlook on who I want to be in this league,” he said. “I want to be one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game, and I will stand by it.
“My goal is to go out there and dominate my opponent, dominate who is in front of me. I feel even more confident, stronger, more in (tune) with my (shooting) mechanics, how I move. The way I see the game now is a little different than last year. I am even more confident with the year I have under my belt.”
Sharpe played only 32 games in his abbreviated second NBA campaign due to midseason abdominal surgery.
“I am back to 100 (percent),” he said. “I haven’t played a game for a minute now. I am excited to be back out there with my teammates.”
Sharpe averaged 15.9 points and 5.0 rebounds last season. The 6-6 shooting guard had one stretch in early December in which he scored 20 points or more in five straight games.
“Some of the games I was rolling, competing at a high level,” he said. “The injury set me back, but it gave me time to watch the game and watch players I admire so I can learn from them. It was a big upset for me, but I’m going to come back stronger.”
“Shae is a huge talent,” Grant said. “He can do a bit of everything on the court. His (goals) going forward are about efficiency and consistency, being able to do it on more nights than not. After he does that, he’ll blossom.”
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The 6-9, 240-pound Avdija came to Portland in a draft-night trade with Washington. Now in his fifth NBA season, the Israeli native, 23, became a full-time starter for the Wizards for the first time in 2023-24, averaging career highs in scoring (14.7) and rebounds (7.2) while shooting .506 from the field and .374 from the 3-point line.
“I have been so impressed with him,” Billups said. “He can fit in anywhere. He is just a basketball player. Our fans are going to love him. He plays with so much fire and desire. He’s high (basketball) IQ. He can guard multiple positions. A really good rebounder. Still a young player. Really cares about playing the right way.”
Added Henderson about his new teammate: “Deni is a Class A guy. Good person. Unique personality — kinda goofy. Very versatile. He can play both sides of the ball. He can shoot it well. He can attack the basket and he is super strong. This is going to be a great year for Deni. He will help us a lot.”
Avdija will likely be a starting forward alongside Grant. It sounds like he will be somewhat of a point forward.
“He can take the pressure off me a little bit by handling the ball,” Simons said. “I can run to action and play off the ball.”
“I don’t know yet what my role will be, but I am definitely a good playmaker,” Avdija said. “I like to involve everybody. I like to get everybody open shots and get them into the game. It is part of what I do.”
“Deni gives us another level of physicality,” swing man Matisse Thybulle said. “He is an extremely physical player on the offensive end, which is a unique skill set. On a young team, that helps as an example to play the way we want to play. He embodies the characteristics of a tough team. To build around that will be valuable.”
Like his teammates, Avdija sounded an optimistic tone about the Blazers’ outlook for the upcoming season.
“I need a preseason with the team to see how we all fit together, what kind of chemistry we have,” he said. “But everybody has talent. We are going to be good. … Last year we were last in the West, right? Hopefully, this year we’re not.”
Grant, who averaged 21.0 points in 54 games a year ago, said he will embrace a greater leadership role this season.
“I am the old vet on the team,” he said. “I want to keep growing as a player but also help the young players in any way I can.”
Grant said he and Avdija “will fit” in the same lineup.
“He is a better rebounder than I am, but both of us are versatile,” Grant said. “We can both play different positions. We will work well together.”
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There is a logjam at center, with Ayton the starter and the rookie Clingan, veteran Robert Williams and holdover Duop Reath in reserve. The 6-9 Williams, acquired from Boston before the 2023-24 campaign, returns to action after playing only six games before knee surgery torpedoed his season.
“We have the luxury of having some really good big men,” Billups said. “There are going to be times when I am trying some things with two bigs (on the court at the same time). That’s the good thing about where we are at. We can try some things, see if it works as we are trying to figure out what we’re doing.”
After pickup games for a few weeks, Ayton is sold on Clingan.
“Just have to build that trust with him, show him that I have his back,” Ayton said. “I will tell you, he is a true competitor. You can tell he is a winner. He is truly competitive. He doesn’t back down at all. He wants to learn so much. There is a thing or two I am learning from him, too. He is such a big kid, and he uses his body so well. He sacrifices his body for his teammates. He doesn’t know how important that is in this league.”
Clingan earned praise from Simons for “his defensive upside, his ability to block and alter shots that is pretty special. His ability to impact the game that way will help us out a lot.”
A year ago, before his first season with the Blazers, Ayton said, “I bring dominance. My name is Dominayton.” He averaged 16.7 points and a team-high 11.1 rebounds in 55 games. Asked for his personal goal for the upcoming season, Ayton toned it down considerably.
“Winning,” he said.
Pressed about individual goals, he said, “Continued good performance and being the anchor that I truly am.”
Then he went into the team thing that might make his GM a bit uncomfortable, at least for one more season.
“I am not taking losing lightly at all,” Ayton said. “Our objective is winning the games, and winning together, and the right way. It is not all going to look good, but I know for sure the team we have is going to be turning some heads. Competing is something we will be doing every night.”
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Assorted other notes:
• There seems a likelihood that some of the veterans — Grant, Williams, perhaps even Ayton and/or Simons — will be dealt around the Feb. 6 trade deadline as the Blazers hone in on acquiring talent of a similar age to the Henderson/Sharpe time line. When I asked Cronin about it, this was his response:
“Time will tell. I wanted to hit the ground running with these guys this year and see how things go. Trade deadline is quite a ways away. But we’re always going to be open-minded. We’ll look at it deal by deal, evaluate them one at a time and decide if that’s a good move for us or not. We have a plan. We know what we would like our end goal to be. Sometimes we don’t control that.”
• Last season, as the Blazers arrived at tank mode, young forwards such as Toumani Camara, Jabari Walker and Kris Murray took on starting roles. They will be fighting for spots in the rotation this season, barring injuries or the aforementioned trades. It appears Dalano Banton — who averaged 16.7 points in 29.2 minutes of 30 games last season — will vie with newly acquired Devonte Graham for the 15th roster spot.
• Billups intends for the Blazers’ offense to play at a faster pace. “We have to pick it up quick this year,” he said. “We have to focus in on that. You’ll see us look different defensively, too. We’ll pick up pressure more than what we’ve been doing. … We have to play fast, we have to move the basketball, we have to work on defense to even be competitive. The one thing I’m really excited about, we have so much competition throughout our roster for minutes, starting spots and rotation. We finally have that. I am excited to start up that process.”
• Portland has added three new assistants to its coaching staff — Nate Bjorkgren, Chris Fleming and Ronnie Burrell. Bjorkgren, an NBA assistant for nine seasons with Phoenix, Toronto and Indiana, served as a special assistant to the Portland coaching staff last season. “I hired him last year as a consultant because he was so dang good, to be able to pick his brain,” Billups said. “He can pretty much do anything. He is a wizard in my eyes.” Fleming also has coached nine NBA seasons with Chicago, Denver and Brooklyn. “Chris was in charge of the Bulls’ offense, but more importantly, in charge of the development of (guard) Coby White,” Billups said. Burrell was G-League Coach of the Year in 2023. Gone from last year’s staff are Scotty Brooks, now with the Los Angeles Lakers; Steve Hetzel, now with Brooklyn, and Rodney Billups, Chauncey’s younger brother, whose contract was not renewed.
• When it was noted that Ayton was unusually peppy during his time in front of the microphone Monday, he said, “You gotta be on juices.” What kind of juices? “All type of stuff the chef got me drinking. Beet juice, orange juice with ginger in it — all the cleansing stuff.”
• Thybulle, who may be Portland’s best defender, was asked what drives his motor on that side of the court. “For me, it’s just fun,” he said. “A lot of the narrative in sports in general about defense is war and battle and defeat. It becomes this life or death thing. I just enjoy creating plays. It is like you’re outwitting them, whether it is a physical battle or not, I am able to use my tools to overcome yours. It is about enjoying that little game as opposed to shutting someone down or destroying them.” When it was mentioned that Billups called him a “wizard” on defense, Thybulle responded, “It is a beautiful compliment. I have waited my whole life for somebody to notice me in that way. It is extremely validating. I am not like defensive players in the past. To be celebrated for being a little bit different feels really good.”
• Dewayne Hankins, president of business operations, said the club’s season ticket renewal rate is at 86 percent, “similar to where we were two years ago. Last year we were in the high 80s.” Per their new television contract with KATU and Sinclair Broadcast Group affiliates, Blazer games will be aired on KATU’s 2.2 channel until Jan. 1, when they will move to what is currently Univision and will then become the primary station for the Rip City television network. “We will be reaching four times more fans on KATU and streaming services,” he said.
An “expansive in-bowl update” to Moda Center is on target to begin next summer. The first amount of money from the city’s “spectator facility fund” — made up of user fees and revenue generated by public parking garages during home games — will become available in the offseason.
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