The Portland Trail Blazers have yet to make a splash in free agency, which has been disappointing for fans hoping the team would continue upgrading its roster to make a legitimate playoff push after enduring a four-year drought. Despite their free agency inactivity, the Blazers have had a surprising and eventful offseason.
Here is a recap so far of Portland's new-look roster:
Out: Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons, Jabari Walker, Dalano Banton (remains an unrestricted free agent)
In: Jrue Holiday, Yang Hansen
Blazers doubled down on defensive identity this summer
Looking at these additions and subtractions, it's clear that the Blazers are doubling down on their defensive identity. Simons has had the worst defensive rating on the team for multiple seasons, and they found a significant upgrade in Holiday, who has a combined six NBA All-Defensive Team selections.
Moving on from Ayton also clears the path for Donovan Clingan to take over as the starting center, providing Portland with more rim protection. On a per-36 basis, Clingan ranked second in the league in blocks (3.0) behind Victor Wembanyama, and the Blazers' defense will drastically benefit from his increased role as their anchor.
Portland is stacked on defense between Holiday, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Clingan, Matisse Thybulle, and Robert Williams III. That's good enough to rank in the top five in the league, barring injury. However, heading into the 2025-26 season, the concern is that Portland focused too much on one end of the court.
How is this team going to score?
Portland needs a Shaedon Sharpe breakout to generate more offense
Besides Avdija, they have very few players capable of initiating the offense, with Ayton and Simons now out of the picture. That's a combined 34 points per game that the Blazers need to generate elsewhere, especially considering Holiday (at this stage of his career) and Clingan's strengths don't lie in their offense.
Because of this, Portland will have to rely on Sharpe for more shot creation and playmaking, which is an underrated aspect of his game.
Towards the end of the 2024-25 season -- when key veterans were shut down -- we got a glimpse of what Sharpe is capable of in an increased role. In 25 games after the All-Star break, he averaged 21.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists, including an impressive five-game stretch in April where his scoring jumped to 28.8 points per game.
Portland needs that version of Sharpe on a consistent basis for the entirety of next season. He's already shown in flashes that he's most capable of stepping up as a secondary offensive weapon alongside Avdija.
Now entering his fourth year, this will be a pivotal season for Sharpe and the Blazers; this could decide whether Sharpe can truly reach his All-Star ceiling or if he's more of a theoretical talent that never figures out how to put it all together.
We're leaning towards the former of these extremes, as Portland's offseason moves have set him up to benefit in a huge way.