The Portland Trail Blazers were one of the few teams to be inactive at the historically chaotic trade deadline. They still have several veterans in the way of fully unleashing their young core, which hopefully gets addressed in the offseason. We also wish they had better odds of landing a top pick like Cooper Flagg in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Despite these issues, the 2024-25 season has to be considered an overall success for the Blazers. Portland entered the season as the second-youngest team in the association. And with no playoff aspirations after a 21-win season, all eyes were on how their three previous top ten picks, Shaedon Sharpe, Scoot Henderson, and Donovan Clingan, would fare in what is technically the second year of their rebuild after trading away Damian Lillard in 2023.
The Blazers knew what they had in Clingan going into the season -- part of what made him a coveted prospect was his high floor in what was such an uncertain draft, as his rim protection and rebounding as a 7-foot-2, 280-pound big man were skills that immediately translated as expected entering the NBA.
But there was excitement in the uncertainty surrounding the Blazers' young core entering the season. Henderson was coming off an up-and-down rookie season. Yet he was still a promising prospect that we couldn't write off yet as someone who has top-three draft capital, plays the most difficult position to learn, and was just 20 years old entering the season. We also viewed this as Sharpe's second season, as he was limited to just 32 games last year due to surgery for a core muscle injury.
Both players had extremely high expectations entering the season, and rightfully so. Not only did they have big shoes to fill in the backcourt after Lillard's departure, but they also were elite athletes who had, and still possess, All-Star potential if they can refine other aspects of their game to complement and utilize that athleticism.
Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija are the Blazers' building blocks
One or both of Henderson and Sharpe may pan out and reach their tantalizing ceilings as both have shown flashes so far this season of being the Blazers' much-needed All-Star solution. But the reason that the Blazers have already exceeded their 21-win total from last season with a 23-32 record at the All-Star break largely has to do with their wing duo of Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija.
Rip City has gone 10-4 in their games heading into the break, and a significant reason for this is their improved defense, as they have ranked atop the league in defensive rating during that stretch. That largely has to do with the duo of Camara and Avdija.
GM Joe Cronin has emphasized building an athletic and lengthy roster, with Portland having the tallest team in the NBA. That, along with Chauncey Billups' defensive-minded approach, has finally translated to Portland playing winning basketball.
After years of missing this exact thing in the Lillard era, the Blazers finally have a duo of two-way wings that are providing the Blazers with a newfound identity on the defensive end. According to Crafted NBA, Camara has a 99 defensive versatility rating, which is tied with Scottie Barnes, Dillon Brooks, and Jrue Holiday for second-best in the NBA. The highest rating was Avdija at 100.
Luckily for Portland, both players fit their rebuilding timeline at 24 years old and are on team-friendly contracts. The Blazers' roster is bound to experience a lot of turnover between now and what their actual playoff team eventually looks like. But this season has shown that the two locks are surprisingly Camara and Avdija. Credit to Cronin for securing these building blocks in the past two offseasons.