While they don't have a clear-cut star, the Portland Trail Blazers have a promising core emerging with Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan. Ideally, their selection in the 2025 NBA Draft balances upside and fit by complementing this group.
Given the uncertainty surrounding Deandre Ayton and Anfernee Simons, as well as Portland's shallow wing depth, the Blazers should be open to any position. It's more important that the player's skillset fits instead.
There are several promising prospects in the upcoming draft that would be great fits for Portland, given the flexibility that comes with their unfinished roster. But one surprising name came up in CBS Sports' latest mock draft: Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears.
"Deni Avdija has been sensational down the stretch of the season for Portland. If he and Donovan Clingan are the frontcourt of the future, then Portland probably tries to address the lopsided fit of their backcourt here. Fears won't be ready next year, but he finished the season as strong as he started, leading Oklahoma back to the NCAA Tournament and showing extreme playmaking ability in the process," wrote Finkelstein.
Fears' playmaking makes him worthy of consideration for a late lottery pick. But he's not an ideal fit for the Blazers.
The Blazers don't need another Scoot Henderson
The idea here is that drafting Fears would give the Blazers "flexibility to move off one of their current backcourt pieces." I'm not opposed to Portland selecting another guard in the backcourt, especially if it's a combo guard who can spell both Henderson and Sharpe if Simons is out of the equation.
But the issue is that Fears shot under 30 percent from beyond the arc. He might be more effective as a lead guard rather than a combo guard, given his poor shooting and the fact that he had the highest usage rate for a freshman (32 percent).
Portland will likely wind up picking in the 8-11 range. If they want to find a Simons replacement, someone like Jase Richardson (shooting 41 percent from three) would be a better fit as a combo guard.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report even named Scoot Henderson as one of Fears' pro comparisons. The Blazers need to be clearing the path for Henderson, not adding another similar player archetype into the mix.
Even though he may be a solid NBA prospect, drafting Fears would just further complicate things for a Blazers backcourt that is already too messy.