Kevin O'Connor and Steve Jones Jr. recently broke down the Portland Trail Blazers' roster heading into the 2025-26 NBA season on The Kevin O'Connor Show. O'Connor was asked where he's currently at with Shaedon Sharpe, to which KOC responded: "He feels lost in this mix here."
"He's just kind of become an afterthought when you look at the Blazers," O'Connor continued. "Elite athlete, dynamic scorer... is there a winning player in there? How does he fit into this ecosystem with the Blazers? Where is his place on this team?"
Blazers must make Shaedon Sharpe more of a priority
They projected Sharpe and Scoot Henderson coming off the bench together, with Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant taking the final two starting spots. O'Connor notes that he wants to see the Blazers' two young guys frequently sharing the court to gain more clarity on what Portland actually has in its backcourt going forward.
The Blazers' starting lineup is an unnecessarily tricky situation for Chauncey Billups to maneuver. Ideally, Portland's starters would be Henderson, Sharpe, Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, and Donovan Clingan. Instead, the rebuilding Blazers could bring their recent top ten picks off the bench in place of two overpaid and declining veterans.
That may not even be the wrong decision for a team looking to compete for a play-in spot next season. The Blazers were a better team, particularly on the defensive end, when Sharpe was demoted to a bench role last season. However, it does bring up the critical question of what the Blazers' priorities should truly be for next season.
At the top of that list should be the evaluation and development of their emerging backcourt.
For the most part, the Blazers already know what they have in the frontcourt between Avdija, Camara, and Clingan as their core pieces. They still need to make crucial decisions with their backcourt, which is suddenly crowded again with the additions of Holiday and Damian Lillard. The most urgent decision is what to do with Sharpe's extension. If they don't extend him by the beginning of the 2025-26 season, Sharpe will become a restricted free agent.
As O'Connor noted, Sharpe is currently on the outside looking in on the Blazers' roster. He needs to become a more consistent and impactful two-way player in order for that to change. Otherwise, he could quickly go the way of Anfernee Simons and question where his next payday comes from.
Given his upside and draft pedigree, Portland shouldn't want that to happen. They need to be doing everything they can to help Sharpe become a more complete player, even if that means paying him more at the end of the season. Otherwise, this rebuild is going nowhere fast.