The Portland Trail Blazers have dropped five consecutive games, putting them at 13-28 at the halfway point of the 2024-25 season. Portland has the sixth-worst record in the league but still has an improved team compared to last year.
The Blazers finished last season tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the third-worst record in the association at 21-61. They have looked better this year thanks to the internal development of their youth, offseason additions of Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan, and perhaps most importantly, they are much healthier overall.
Still, it hasn't all been pretty, as evidenced by their record.
1. Jerami Grant
2024-25 stats: 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 blocks on 38/38/82 shooting splits
Jerami Grant was widely viewed as Portland's best player heading into the season. However, that seems questionable after the addition of Avdija, especially considering how disappointing Grant has been this season. His scoring is down six points, and his field goal percentage has dipped seven percent from last year.
That's horrible timing for the Blazers, as Grant is the most obvious trade candidate as we approach the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
2. Deandre Ayton
2024-25 stats: 13.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 blocks on 56/21/61 shooting splits
Deandre Ayton seemed to finally get more comfortable and adjust to his new team towards the end of last season after strangely attributing his slow start in Portland to the fact that he had to sleep on an air mattress. Ayton averaged 22.7 points and 12.5 rebounds post-All-Star break, having
Blazers fans were excited that this version of "DominAyton" was potentially here to stay. But that hasn't been the case, to say the least.
3. Scoot Henderson
2024-25 stats: 11.9 points, 5.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals on 42/34/76 shooting splits
To Scoot Henderson's credit, his recent play has made us think twice about putting Henderson on this list. Against Brooklyn, Henderson had 39 points and six assists, going 8-of-10 from three. Two games later, he had 21 points, 11 assists, five rebounds, three blocks, and one steal against the Rockets. If Scoot can continue this stretch, he'll easily be someone who has exceeded expectations this season.
But this list encompasses all 41 games so far, and Henderson has come up short overall, showing minimal progress in key areas.
4. Anfernee Simons
2024-25 stats: 18.2 points, 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 0.9 steals on 42/36/91 shooting splits
Anfernee Simons' scoring is down from his 22.6 points last season. A large part of that is due to his three-point shooting, as Simons is connecting at a 35.8 percent rate, which is right around the league average for the point guard position.
If Simons isn't shooting efficiently from three, it puts the Blazers at a significant disadvantage. Shooting is already a glaring weakness for their roster, but playing Simons, an undersized combo guard, at point guard also compromises their playmaking and defense.
Simons has turned things around in the past ten games, scoring 21.2 points and shooting 44.1 percent from deep in that span. But he's also scored less than 14 points in each of the past three games.
Simons has the ability to be the best player on the Blazers' team any given game with this potential to get hot, but not knowing which version of him Portland will get on a game-by-game basis has contributed to their lack of consistency, which already was a problem for such a young team.