The Portland Trail Blazers will not be a laughingstock this season. They won't be in the gutter of the Western Conference. They will compete every night, win somewhere between 35 and 40 games, and fight for a play-in spot. But which player on this roster leads them there isn't fully clear.
When the season starts, I don't know who the best player on the Blazers will be, and that might be what muddies up this team's season the most: Who leads the charge? What's the pecking order of this team? Does Shaedon Sharpe become the No. 1 scoring option he has the tools to be? Does Jrue Holiday once again become the All-Star caliber player that he couldn't be due to a smaller role in Boston? Does Deni Avdija's ascent as an elite connector continue? Does Scoot Henderson make his case to be part of the team's nucleus?
I have some theories on those questions, but nothing concrete. And although this isn't an uncommon situation for rebuilding teams to be in, it's also an important one for Chauncey Billups to figure out quickly, because this also wouldn't be a problem if the Blazers were planning to compete for a championship in 2025-26... but they're not. I say that because if a team is going to succeed at a high level for multiple consecutive years, it doesn't really matter who runs the show; contending at a high level means a team has figured out its hierarchy already.
But the Blazers are still trying to establish who exactly their core is moving forward, and knowing how to divide minutes, roles, shot attempts, etc., becomes much more difficult if they don't know who the best option to get those things actually is.
Blazers need to figure out who their guys are in 2025-26
Shaedon Sharpe is a restricted free agent next summer. Toumani Camara is an unrestricted free agent in 2027. Decisions need to be made on Rayan Rupert and Kris Murray this season, too. There are tons of important team-building crossroads coming in the relatively near future for the Blazers, and those decisions get even harder if there's no clear order of production that each player provides. Like, would you feel comfortable giving Shaedon Sharpe a $175 million extension right now? Probably not; but if he becomes a 23-point per game scorer this year, the perception of extending him would change drastically in his favor.
And therein lies the biggest question mark — and potentially the biggest problem — of the Blazers 2025-26 season. We don't know what a lot of the guys on this roster are capable of being. And question marks about players make roster-building even tougher than it already is. Finding out who exactly these guys are must be a priority for Chauncey Billups, Joe Cronin, and the rest of the front office this season. Because not being sure will obscure the team's outlook for this year and for the future.