One benefit of the Trail Blazers making the postseason was to gain valuable experience for an up-and-coming core that has yet to be battle-tested. While that worked to an extent, the standout exception was Shaedon Sharpe. Portland's high-flyer took a backseat in Tiago Splitter's rotation, averaging just 13.6 minutes in that five-game stretch.
Sharpe voiced his frustration with that decision at his end-of-season exit interview. He also mentioned that Splitter gave him the reason behind the reduced minutes, but decided not to share that with the media. He clarified that he was fully physically healthy, so it wasn't necessarily the calf injury he dealt with towards the end of the regular season that led to Splitter's decision.
That makes this whole situation all the more puzzling.
Blazers veterans soaked up the playoff experience their young core needed
Let's be honest, the Blazers were never going to win a seven-game series against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. But this entire transitional season has been more about the process than the end result. That's the mindset these young teams have to embrace.
Giannis Antetokounmpo once talked about how only one team can win it all, but that doesn't mean the other 29 teams didn't have successful seasons. It's about relative success: finding ways to improve your current position so you have a better chance of becoming that one team in the future.
The Blazers did a pretty good job of that this season, as key players took strides. But we still don't have that clarity we were hoping to find in the postseason, particularly in the backcourt. That was a major mistake, as the priority all along should've been to get their youth more playoff experience.
That was the reason behind this push for the playoffs in the first place. They sacrificed their first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls in what projects to be a strong draft class. It wasn't supposed to matter as much because their young core has already proven too good to bottom out, meaning Portland is taking its roster in the other direction, as a team that wants to win now.
Instead, the result was largely no-man's land. Grinding for a playoff spot and first round series with the majority of the key pieces being veterans. Outside of their All-Star, Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday, and Robert Williams III were the only players who consistently showed up.
Donovan Clingan disappeared. Scoot Henderson was an entirely different player in the first half of the series compared to the second half. Shaedon Sharpe barely played. Yang Hansen made as much of an impact as I did.
What's this all for if not to get these former first-round picks more experience?
That could be even harder to come by next season with Damian Lillard taking up more minutes in the backcourt, depending on what direction they take the roster this offseason.
The silver lining to this is that Portland's rebuild is still in a good place, regardless, because they have won their trades for Avdija and Toumani Camara. Those future Milwaukee Bucks picks are bound to pay off massively, too.
But the one thing differentiating Portland's rebuild ceiling from a playoff team to a legitimate contender is whether their actual draft picks reach their respective ceilings. That's concerning, given that Sharpe is the only player among their draft picks with a genuine star ceiling.
The Blazers' season largely went to plan as they ended their playoff drought and gained valuable experience. I'm just not sure the experience gained was by the right players.
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