The Portland Trail Blazers gave the Utah Jazz and their fans the perfect horror show performance yesterday, in their wire-to-wire 112-90 win. While Deni Avdija led the way to the convincing win, Portland started Damian Lillard and Scoot Henderson for the first time together in a regular season game.
Lillard helped get the Blazers off to the fast start with 11 of the team’s first 14 points, but his shooting efficiency (6 for 17 overall and 3 for 10 beyond the arc) was horrid once again, while committing
an uncharacteristic 5 turnovers. His backcourt mate Henderson has had a tough start to the season, and his first start garnered mixed results. Scoot finished with 14 points on 4-11 from the field, and registered 1 assist to 4 turnovers. He was the only starter to have a negative +/- for a game the Blazers dominated.
With Ja Morant expected to be out for at least 4 weeks, and wing Shaedon Sharpe out indefinitely, the Blazers are currently playing with just 12 of their 14 rostered, contracted players. With playoff aspirations alive, the team may want to think about using the tools at their disposal.
They have the space to sign a player outright into the open 15th roster spot, and perhaps there’s a player the Blazers could get who could help keep the backcourt steady, while their starting point guard is on the shelf. Jrue Holiday has been rock solid off the bench as expected. With Avdija and Lillard able to buoy the starting lineup, keeping Jrue as the leader of the reserves feels like the smart move given his age.
His younger brother Aaron is playing over in Italy for the club team Maxima Roma this season, after playing his first seven seasons in the NBA. His team is considered a second-tier Euro team who plays in the EuroCup instead of the EuroLeague. Holiday has a contractual clause that would allow him to return to the NBA immediately if he was offered a deal. An incumbent NBA team wanting to sign Holiday would have to buy out his contract from Roma, but that amount cannot exceed $850,000. He’s currently averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 assists in 25 minutes per game on 41.5/43/91 shooting splits.
Could bringing in the 30-year-old point guard be a boost for Portland? I imagine joining the Brothers Holiday together for the first time on a NBA roster could yield dividends. Aaron Holiday is smaller but more stout than Morant, standing 6 feet and weighing 185 pounds. He carries a career NBA average of 6.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 38% from three, and 85% from the foul line. He also carries a 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio over 505 NBA games, which would add some needed help in protecting the basketball. In comparison, Scoot’s ratio over 163 games currently sits at 1.67 to 1. Through 5 games this season, Scoot is at a scary -1.86 with 1.5 assists to 2.8 turnovers per game. He continues to struggle taking care of the ball, which has been a point of emphasis for the team this year. If he doesn’t get better in this department immediately, it’s going to put Portland in a tough spot. It would be wise to get ahead of this before it might cost them games.
The kind of intangible effect that would result from pairing the Holiday Boyz on the Blazers is unknown. I’d like to believe the synergy and chemistry of adding Aaron to the roster would bring good vibes on that end. He played on a Houston Rockets team the past two seasons that carried playoff expectations, so adapting to the role the Blazers would need from him would be second nature.
Portland should be thinking about how to minimize their losses with a fortifying move. There are other free agent guards like Bruce Brown and Gabe Vincent that should also garner looks from the Blazers to help bolster a fragile guard corps. The most talented guard on the market is Kevin Porter Jr, but he’s “radioactive” after settling a misdemeanor plea deal in a domestic violence about three years ago. Denver and Sacramento are currently rumored to be interested signing him, but after the Blazers traded for the reputationally beleaguered Morant, would they seriously entertain bringing aboard a player with more serious legal charges to their name? Another scenario Portland could entertain is to count Deni as part of the backcourt for now, and go find support for the frontcourt. Perhaps the recently released Jeremy Sochan, who can handle the ball a little and guard all five positions?
What started out with the perception as a crowded backcourt in the summer, is now down to three playable guards just five games into the regular season. I’m pretty sure most fans tuned in to the team could see the potential injury pitfalls with this group, and here we are almost immediately. Lillard has had some sensational moments thus far, but his shooting has been erratic overall, especially at the free throw line. His 7/8 performance yesterday from the charity stripe was a nice bounce back. He’s still finding his sea legs for playing regularly again, and undoubtedly will need some rest at some point during the period Ja is sidelined. Keeping him healthy and fresh for the end of the season is key to the Blazers success.
Scoot currently can’t be trusted to take care of the ball, which will affect how often he can be counted on as a primary or secondary ball handler. He’s also just as streaky as ever shooting the ball. You want to see him finally have the Forrest Gump moment. The one where he’s being chased down his driveway by bullies, and Jenny tells him to run. He starts out with his leg braces on and tries running as best as he can, until the “aha” moment came and he breaks out of the braces into a full on sprint leaving everyone in the dust. It’s not necessarily now or never for Scoot, but he finds himself in a great spot to finally capitalize on leveling up permanently as a player. Until he can, and the Blazers backcourt keeps adding to the infirmary, finding a free agent ball handler who can effectively game manage should be on Joe Cronin’s to do list. We’re one Father Time injury away with Dame or Jrue to where Scoot will be forced into playing 36+ minutes per night. At this juncture that would be a wild roller coaster ride for all involved.
Aaron Holiday could be a low-risk, low-cost, medium reward as he teams with his older brother. If Portland wants to keep building off last season’s success, it would be wise to avoid another winter with zero healthy point guards. Unless a surprise trade can bring help, Portland should use their open roster spot to seal the crack in the backcourt foundation.
How do you think Portland should treat their open 15th player slot?
