The league is trending away from one-dimensional, score-first guards. The Portland Trail Blazers got ahead of that curve when they swapped Anfernee Simons for two-way star Jrue Holiday last summer.
It was apparent they sold high on Simons when the Boston Celtics flipped him to the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Vucevic at the deadline, only for Vucevic to fall out of Joe Mazzulla's rotation in the postseason when they desperately needed a big man.
That decision looks better than ever, as Portland is expected to receive serious trade interest for Holiday this upcoming offseason. But Holiday isn't the one they should be actively looking to trade. It's Shaedon Sharpe.
Blazers should double down on defensive identity this summer
Portland got rid of its biggest defensive liability in Simons, but now it faces a similar problem with Sharpe.
The Blazers' team defense drastically improved towards the end of the season, due to a combination of factors, including health and strength of schedule. They finally looked like the elite defense general manager Joe Cronin envisioned with his offseason moves.
Portland lacks star power compared to the Western Conference juggernauts and needs to gain an advantage elsewhere to compensate. They've decided to do that on the defensive end, prioritizing length and athleticism with a roster consisting of elite individual defensive weapons and switchable wings.
But in today's NBA, a team's defensive ceiling is only as high as its weakest link. Stars hunt for mismatches now more than ever. For Portland, that weak link was Simons. Now, it's Sharpe.
Shaedon Sharpe no longer fits with the Blazers
It's puzzling, considering Sharpe has all the physical tools to be an above-average defender. He has top-tier athleticism and good positional size for a guard at 6-foot-5. That hasn't translated to the two-way impact Portland has hoped for, which has been a recurring theme in Sharpe's career up until this point.
The Blazers committed to Sharpe long-term, investing in him with a four-year, $90 million extension before the season. It was unclear if they'd ultimately go through with it or let him test the market in restricted free agency the following summer. Portland decided to invest in Sharpe's upside, which is arguably the highest on its entire roster.
On the surface, that looked to be a good decision, as Sharpe rewarded them with a career-high 20.8 points per game. Then again, teams are becoming smarter, learning there's much more to winning than scoring.
For instance, do you think Sharpe would fit into the Oklahoma City Thunder's system and brand of basketball? I do not.
Portland could package Sharpe to go star hunting
The Blazers must realize that the idea of Sharpe's impact will always be better than the reality.
In a sense, their coaching staff has already come to this conclusion. Chauncey Billups made the controversial decision to bench Sharpe last season, even though it was clearly another rebuilding season. Tiago Splitter eventually followed suit, decreasing Sharpe's role to 13.4 minutes per game in the postseason series against San Antonio.
The point of making the playoffs was largely to let Portland's youth become more battle-tested, gaining much-needed experience to be better prepared for a deep playoff run when the time comes. Sharpe voiced his frustration with this benching decision at this end-of-season exit interview, noting he was fully physically healthy. He also added that Splitter told him the reason behind the decision, but declined to share that with the media. If Portland doesn't value Sharpe gaining playoff experience alongside the rest of their youth, do they even truly consider him a building block?
Despite the extension, Portland has to evaluate how Sharpe fits into their long-term plans. Given his poor two-way fit, they may conclude that it's in the best interest to make him available as soon as this summer.
After all, they could go star hunting in their first offseason under Tom Dundon. And while they don't want to sacrifice their entire future for a star, moving on from Sharpe makes sense as they look to continue building a winning culture, starting on the defensive end.
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