If the Portland Trail Blazers miss the postseason, it will be five long rebuilding years without a playoff appearance. There will understandably be a sense of urgency to end that drought, especially with Tom Dundon's arrival and Damian Lillard's comeback.
But the most frustrating part of this long rebuilding process hasn't been the losses. That's to be expected, and sometimes even encouraged, depending on your approach to rebuilding. It's that Portland's young core hasn't really been made enough of a priority.
Blazers are brute-forcing the playoff push with too many veterans
Portland sits at .500 with two games remaining and will finish as the 8th- or 9th-seed in the Play-In Tournament. Technically, they've exceeded expectations compared to their win total set at the beginning of the season.
Still, the fact that they've relied so heavily on veterans -- Jrue Holiday, Jerami Grant, Robert Williams III, and Matisse Thybulle -- throughout the season to get to this point takes some of the excitement out of their future outlook.
It's one thing to make this playoff push on the back of the young core, living with the potential loss of a lottery-protected first-round pick because their youth was already good enough to win. It's another to brute force the issue with veterans masking several flaws in this young core, whether it's their lack of shooting, playmaking, depth, consistency, or star power.
This year hasn't gone according to plan in several ways, starting with Chauncey Billups' departure just one game into the season. Portland continued dealing with adversity after those unprecedented circumstances, being one of the most injured teams in the league. It's impressive that they're even at .500, and we don't want to take anything away from Tiago Splitter or the players' accomplishments. They are gradually improving year by year as a collective, which is all you can ask for.
But I think there would be more clarity regarding that development and evaluation had their youth been prioritized more this season.
Blazers still seek answers from their young core
Portland enters a pivotal offseason with more questions than answers when it comes to its backcourt in particular. Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson were the top ten picks to catalyze this rebuild, and have now become afterthoughts. We don't even know whether they should be considered building blocks, since Portland doesn't know what they fully have in them. Again, some of that has been due to untimely injuries. But some of that is a self-created problem they have more control over.
Had Portland put their young pieces in the driver's seat, they'd face a win-win scenario. Either make the postseason because your building blocks are ready to take that next step, or continue adding to that young core via the draft. The number of veterans playing key roles on this roster has clouded the entire picture.
The fans and front office are aligned on taking the next step to reach the postseason, at least next year. But it would be better for this team to take one step back before taking two steps forward. They've kept veterans around for so long that they are trying to win again, but we've skipped a step or two in the rebuilding process.
The last thing Portland wants to do is accelerate the rebuilding timeline around a young core that's not ready. That's similar to what the Houston Rockets are going through right now. They brought in Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to help their young core gain experience, and then took that next step with a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant. Now, they have their superstar in Durant, but it's the flaws in the young core that are being exposed.
I worry a similar outcome would happen to Portland if they were to take that superstar route this summer, as this core isn't good enough yet.