3 Draft day Shaedon Sharpe takes that are already laughably wrong

Not a lot went right for the Portland Trail Blazers last season. Damian Lillard was forced to carry an injury-riddled and talent-deficient team for too long, which eventually forced the organization to pull the plug on 2021-22 entirely and put any healthy veteran player left on the bench.

Not a lot has necessarily gone right for the Blazers this summer, either. One of the few positives of the offseason was Portland jumping to No. 3 in the draft lottery, which gave the franchise an opportunity to select a potential all-NBA point guard in Scoot Henderson…which led, in part, to a Lillard trade request and everything that’s happened since.

Before the Scoot excitement, however, came last year’s potential glimmer of superstar potential that is Shaedon Sharpe.

Portland’s 2022 lottery pick (seventh overall) had an up-and-down rookie season, which was to be expected from a 19-year-old who entered the draft with more athleticism and potential than skill. The script flipped at the end of the year, though, when those healthy vets sat and Sharpe took over the offense to the tune of 23.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game on 46/36/78 shooting splits.

Some draft gurus were less impressed than others when the Blazers selected Sharpe, citing the high risk level associated with a player who had never played at a level higher than AAU.

Here are some of those rather disappointed in-the-moment takes and how hilariously wrong they’ve already become.

Portland Trail Blazers: 3 laughably wrong Shaedon Sharpe draft takes

Shaedon gets the worst grade of any top-20 pick

Sport’s Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo was clearly not a fan of the Blazers’ decision to take Sharpe. He gave the pick a B- grade, which doesn’t seem too bad on first glance – until you notice that he didn’t give any other grade lower than a B- until No. 21.

The Cleveland Cavaliers got a B- for their selection of Ochai Agbaji, but Woo didn’t toss a “C” into the mix until the Denver Nuggets’ pick of Christian Braun. (That didn’t turn out so great, either, as the former Kansas Jayhawk played in every postseason game during the Nuggets’ championship run.)

To be fair, Woo cited fit more than talent when giving Portland it’s B-. He expected the Blazers to aim for a more NBA-ready prospect – mentioning New Orleans’ Dyson Daniels as his preferred choice – than a raw player with upside.

Still, handing the Blazers one of the lowest grades in the entire first round and justifying it with the fit-over-upside approach (always a risky play in the NBA, especially in the top 10) was a bad call. Tough day for Jeremy.