The Portland Trail Blazers front office will have a lot of decisions to make this offseason regarding the direction of their franchise. With two potential first-round picks and numerous players with expiring contracts, they should have the flexibility to fix some of the current roster’s flaws.
One way to determine their areas of improvement is to evaluate their positional strengths and weaknesses.
This article will provide a grade evaluation of each position, the reason behind the grade, and a look ahead to next season’s possible depth chart.
Point guards: Damian Lillard, Ryan Arcidiacono, Anfernee Simons
Grade: A-
Reasoning: Lillard is having a career year. He’s among the top five in the NBA in scoring, is averaging 32 points a game on 46/37/91 (46 percent overall, 37 percent three, 91 percent free-throw) shooting splits.
He should be in the conversation for first-team All-NBA this season.
The only thing keeping this grade from being even better is the team’s need for more depth at the position. While Simons can also play the part, the Blazers still need to spend the offseason addressing their backup point guard situation, ideally with someone that is defensive-minded and is also a distributor.
Shooting guards: Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Cam Reddish
Grade: B
Reasoning: Simons is already an excellent scorer and underrated playmaker. Like Lillard, Simons is also having the best season of his career. He’s averaging 21 points and 4 assists on 45/38/89 shooting splits.
Sharpe is one of the most athletic guards in the entire league and a 36 percent 3-point shooter.
The knock on the Blazers’ shooting guard position and the reason this grade isn’t higher is the fit next to Dame. There are overlapping skillsets and defensive issues between Lillard and Simons, similar to when it was a Lillard and CJ McCollum backcourt.
Positional fit aside, Simons and Sharpe are only 23 and 19 years old, respectively; they are the cornerstone pieces for the Blazers organization to build on in the future. This grade should only continue to improve the more time they have to unlock their potential.
Small forwards: Matisse Thybulle, Reddish, Nassir Little
Grade: C
Reasoning: The Blazers small forward position seems like the Island of Misfit Toys. Thybulle and Reddish were acquired at the trade deadline after getting limited minutes on their previous respective teams, the Sixers and Knicks.
In terms of opportunity, Portland is a great landing spot for both of them. They’ve been playing somewhat better with their increased minutes since being traded.
However, it is also not a great sign that the Blazers small forward depth chart is a duo of players that weren’t getting minutes until they arrived in Portland.
Thybulle is elite defensively and makes up for some of the team’s flaws, but he’s also a bit one-dimensional and shrinks the floor on offense. As a result, he’s likely better as a role player rather than a starter, which is why this grade is low.
We’ll see what the Blazers do this offseason, as Thybulle and Reddish are restricted free agents.
Power forwards: Jerami Grant, Little, Kevin Knox II
Grade: B
Reasoning: Jerami Grant has been a great addition to a Blazers team that was lacking forwards. Grant’s 3-point shooting has been excellent, jumping from 36 percent last year on the Detroit Pistons to 40 percent this year.
One area of improvement for Grant could be rebounding. He averages less than five rebounds a game, which is low for a power forward.
Little is a role player who brings good energy off the bench. He’s also an underrated shooter, as he’s connected on 39 percent of his threes this season.
Grant and Little are solid players who mesh well within the Blazers system. Grant, in particular, provides that valuable go-to scoring option outside of Lillard and Simons.
Centers: Jusuf Nurkic, Drew Eubanks, Trendon Watford
Grade: C+
Reasoning: Nurkic is averaging 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists on the season. He’s a top-20 rebounder in the league, taking full advantage of his 7-foot, 290-pound frame. Nurkic’s floor vision is an underrated part of his game; 3 assists a night is great for a center.
From a scoring standpoint, Nurkic can keep defenses honest from three, has a solid post-up game, and has a decent mid-range shot. However, his flaw is on defense. He often gets exploited in pick-and-rolls and has trouble guarding out on the perimeter.
Eubanks and Watford are capable backups that mostly held their own when Nurk missed games with injuries. Eubanks averages more than a block a game; defensively, he can protect the rim and be a catalyst.
Watford, listed at 6-8, is undersized for a center. However, he makes up for what he lacks in size with shooting and playmaking versatility.
The bigs aren’t a positional strength for the Blazers. There are too many flaws to give them a higher grade, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.
Trail Blazers roster forecast for the 2023-24 season
The Blazers will have to decide whether to retain a number of players, primarily at their forward positions. Here is a list of players whose contracts expire at the end of the season:
Unrestricted free agents
- Jerami Grant
- Drew Eubanks
- Justise Winslow
- Ryan Arcidiacono
Restricted free agents
- Matisse Thybulle
- Cam Reddish
Team options
- Trendon Watford (two years)
- Keon Johnson (two years)
- Kevin Knox II
- John Butler
- Ibou Badji
Next year’s potential depth chart
Let’s say the Blazers retain their key players for this exercise. Portland would be very limited financially in free agency, but they will likely have two valuable first-round picks – their own and the Knicks’.
Two possible draft picks at those spots mentioned in a previous article are Houston forward Jarace Walker and Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino.
If the Blazers went that route, here’s how their depth chart might look next season:
PG: Damian Lillard, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Ryan Arcidiacono
SG: Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Cam Reddish
SF: Matisse Thybulle, Cam Reddish, Justice Winslow
PF: Jerami Grant, Jarace Walker, Nassir Little
C: Jusuf Nurkic, Drew Eubanks, Trendon Watford
Evaluating the new hypothetical depth chart
Jarace Walker is only 19 years old and could eventually play his way into the starting rotation. Given his lack of rebounding, Grant’s fit on this team might be better starting at a small forward over Thybulle.
A significant reason Portland is in a position to take someone like Walker is their lack of size, defense, and rebounding. Walker would provide a much-needed improvement in all three categories.
Hood-Schifino would give the Blazers a reliable backup point guard to take pressure off Lillard. There’s a ton of talent between Lillard, Hood-Schifino, Simons, and Sharpe. As a result, the guard depth chart would be set for the foreseeable future, allowing the Blazers to focus on and address other positions of need going forward.
Concluding thoughts on next season’s outlook for the Blazers
While this team likely still wouldn’t make a deep playoff run, these moves would put it in a much more flexible position to make moves by adding talent to the roster at positions of need.
For example, if they add depth to their guard and forward positions via the draft, they could focus next on finding a defensive-minded center.
The Blazers will have a lot more to look forward to next season with the progression of Simons and Sharpe, as well as the addition of potentially two first-round picks.