There was much anticipation for the Portland Trail Blazers' young core. Fans haven't been able to see that come to fruition, as the core five of Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, and Donovan Clingan have yet to play a single minute together this season.
Lately, it's been Sharpe and Avdija who have been sidelined. But instead of their youth stepping up in expanded roles, Portland has had to rely on its veterans, particularly Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant. Depending so much on veterans to squeeze into a play-in spot, likely as a ninth- or tenth-seed, wasn't really what Blazers fans had in mind, but that's the reality of the situation as they've dealt with so many injuries.
To make matters worse, Henderson has not met expectations since his return. Camara has been the same player since last season, arguably even regressing a bit this season on both ends of the court. Sharpe and Avdija have taken tremendous strides, with both having career years. But in terms of Portland's healthy young core, Clingan is currently the only player fans have to look forward to lately.
Donovan Clingan still gives Blazers fans a reason to believe in this rebuild
We just saw that most recently in their 106-99 road loss to the Houston Rockets. Despite the loss, Clingan was a matchup nightmare throughout the contest, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.
The frustration stems from Blazers fans enduring four long rebuilding seasons with less to show for it relative to other rebuilding teams. Some of that was due to Portland's unfortunate luck, missing out on both Victor Wembanyama and, most recently, Cooper Flagg by one ping pong ball in their respective lotteries.
Portland is roughly where many anticipated them to be by the end of the season, but how they've gone about getting there hasn't provided much reason for optimism about their long-term outlook. Clingan and Camara are the only players currently active who could be key to Portland's final roster when it becomes a true contender. But even Camara hasn't been able to step up, as his skillset is that of an elite complementary piece, not someone to run the offense through.
The Blazers are overly reliant on a 35-year-old Holiday for offense. While he's kept them in games and even proven he has more left in the tank than many gave him credit for, it raises questions about the long-term outlook for this team. If it weren't for Clingan, we'd even be wondering if they should start this rebuild from scratch. There are too many question marks surrounding the rest of their roster to consider them legitimate building blocks.
With Clingan, we at least know they can establish that elite defensive identity, giving them a foundation to build off going forward.
When Portland loses these winnable games like their loss to Houston, at least we can look forward to the future knowing we have our center for the next decade.