With the Play-In Tournament suddenly on the horizon, Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter must shorten his rotation. There are only eight players Splitter can truly rely on going forward: Jrue Holiday, Toumani Camara, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, and Robert Williams III. With Sharpe back in the picture, Portland should start Holiday, Sharpe, Camara, Avdija, and Clingan with Henderson, Thybulle, and Time Lord bringing energy off the bench.
Jerami Grant can make it nine if he's able to return in time for the postseason, although his status still remains in question. That means Kris Murray, and to a lesser extent, Blake Wesley and Sidy Cissoko, shouldn't see significant minutes going forward.
Shaedon Sharpe's return makes Tiago Splitter rethink the rotation
Sharpe finally returned in time for the biggest game of the Blazers' entire rebuild, finishing with eight points in 15 minutes during their 116-97 over the Clippers. Those minutes will inevitably ramp up, but will come at the expense of an established rotational piece. Murray should be the odd man out.
The Iowa product was impactful in their win over Los Angeles, but Portland's offense stalls far too often to be considered a legitimate playoff threat. Upgrading from Murray's unreliable floor spacing to Sharpe's shot creation will give this offense a much-needed boost.
While the Blazers would miss Murray's defensive versatility, they have the luxury of a redundant piece in veteran Thybulle -- a former All-Defensive wing who has redefined his career by quietly becoming a 3-an-D weapon. Thybulle hovered around 32 percent from beyond the arc during the first four seasons of his career with Philadelphia. Injuries have derailed his career, but when healthy, he's shot roughly 38 percent since coming over to Portland in 2022.
Hopefully, Murray takes a similar career trajectory, though he's currently shown little to no progress in that aspect. Not to mention, the Blazers have acquired all these veterans for a reason. We saw that experience come in handy during the playoff-like win over Los Angeles, and I trust the likes of Thybulle, Williams, etc., over whoever else Portland can throw out there.
Splitter seems overconfident in Murray, so I doubt this change will happen. But we'll see the flaws of the Blazers' offense with him in the lineup, which could come back to hurt them as soon as their matchup against Phoenix. The Suns have a plethora of sharpshooters, and that disparity will be even harder to overcome when playing on the road.
The most talented players on this roster are also the best fit and the most experienced. This eight-man roster should be a no-brainer as the stakes get even higher. But then again, Splitter may have other plans. The silver lining is that he finally has options at his disposal, as this injury-riddled roster is finally getting healthy at the right time.