Portland Trail Blazers did nothing to address glaring offseason need

The Portland Trail Blazers finished the 2023-24 season tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the third-worst record in the NBA at 21-61. There were multiple reasons for their poor record; growing pains from having a young roster and relatively inexperienced head coach, various injuries to key players, and attempting to secure a better draft position towards the end of the season all played a significant role in the Blazers finishing at the bottom of the Western Conference.

But there's another major issue the Blazers didn't address at all this offseason - their three-point shooting.

Blazers' three-point shooting woes worsen with Brogdon trade

Last season, the Blazers shot only 34.5 percent from beyond the arc, the lowest in the association. To make matters worse, their best shooter from an efficiency standpoint was Malcolm Brogdon, who connected on 41.2 percent of his 2.1 attempts per game from beyond the arc. Jerami Grant (40.2 percent) and Anfernee Simons (38.5 percent) were their next three-point percentage leaders from last season.

These are the two Blazers' starters who are most heavily involved in trade rumors as Portland looks to rebuild around their up-and-coming backcourt of Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. It's also worth noting that Henderson and Sharpe thrive when they take advantage of their athleticism to attack downhill, and they won't be as effective with a congested paint.

Reasons for optimism heading into next season

Finishing last in the league in any category and then proceeding to lose your player who leads that category is cause for concern in any circumstance, but especially three-point shooting with the modern NBA's emphasis on floor spacing.

However, there are some reasons for optimism regarding the Blazers' shooting, or lack thereof, entering next season. While they lost Brogdon, Deni Avdija coming in will help mitigate the loss to a certain extent. Avdija is coming off a career-best year as a shooter, increasing his accuracy from 29.8 percent from three to 37.4 last season.

The rest of the Blazers' roster should also be improved shooters, whether from internal improvement or simply getting healthier. One player who will be critical in this department is Sharpe, who shot 36 percent from deep as a rookie but decreased to 33.3 percent last season (although in a small sample size of 32 games).

What versions of Avidja and Sharpe the Blazers get and how consistent of shooters they can be will be crucial to filling Brogdon's shooting void. But the good news is that this is a glaring issue that they don't necessarily need to address this glaring need anytime soon. Portland is seeking a top draft pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and having poor floor spacing will only help them reach this goal.