The Portland Trail Blazers have been waiting for Shaedon Sharpe to improve his defense. It's why he was benched last year, and it was also a significant concern after Portland reached a four-year, $90 million extension with Sharpe before the start of the season.
That extension was the Blazers betting on Sharpe to figure out how to make a two-way impact, as the offensive-minded player he was wouldn't be enough to justify that contract. Fortunately, Portland's gamble is already paying off, as Sharpe is finally showing promising signs of improvement.
Shaedon Sharpe's defense proves he belongs in Blazers' core
Last season, Sharpe was Portland's second-worst defender in terms of defensive rating, behind only Anfernee Simons. Now, he's quietly become their fifth-best defender statistically, ahead of names like Jrue Holiday, Deni Avdija, and Toumani Camara.
While that may overstate Sharpe's defense, it does highlight just how much he's prioritized that end of the floor to start the season. Given his positional size at 6-foot-5 and 0.01% athleticism, Sharpe always had the physical tools to become a solid defender. He still has the occasional defensive lapse, but overall, he is figuring out how to translate those physical tools into becoming a more complete player. That's not only justifying the extension, but also Portland's decision to start him over Jerami Grant.
The Blazers surprisingly rank just 20th in defensive rating (115.7) this season, but that can mainly be attributed to their key injuries and challenging schedule. In reality, this is a top ten defense, as Portland proved down the stretch of last season. Still, in order to become a truly elite defense, they can't afford to have any weak links, as NBA stars exploit mismatches now more than ever. That's precisely why moving on from Simons was ultimately in their best interest. Fortunately, Sharpe is proving he fits into Portland's young core and defensive identity.
One downside of this could be that Sharpe is expending so much energy on the defensive end that it's negatively affecting his offense. He's shooting a career low 26.8% from beyond the arc. However, it's also important to remember that Sharpe wasn't fully healthy to begin the season. He's been playing much better as of late, as he finally got off Portland's injury report.
Hopefully, going forward, Sharpe is able to maintain this level of defensive effort while still having enough left to become a more consistent three-level scorer. Defense and shooting were the two hurdles standing between Sharpe and stardom, and he's already cleared the first one.