Of all the current Portland Trail Blazers players, nobody evokes as much interest as Shaedon Sharpe. Fellow guard Scoot Henderson is more polarizing, but Sharpe is responsible for more question submissions to the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag than anybody else. (Just to note, Yang Hansen has taken over the second-place role this summer. Way to go, rookie!)
Today’s Mailbag covers the question at the heart of most people’s vision: will Sharpe be able to take over the team, and maybe the league, next season?
Check it out.
Dave,
I’ve followed your off season discussion with interest. It’s become apparent to me that the Blazers are hanging major hopes on Shaedon Sharpe this year. His contract is part of it. But even if Scoot develops we’ll still need Shae to step up. Otherwise the backcourt still looks thin. Do you think it’s time for Sharpe and what are the chances that he becomes the next star here? Would you pay him?
Eric
Sharpe is in the fat part of his growth curve. It’s not too late for him to take a fairly major step forward. Let’s hold out hope for that happening. It’s not something you can really predict, though.
Sharpe has as much variability as any player who’s come through Portland’s system in the last decade. The only real comparable is Anfernee Simons. At one time, Simons was considered a potential star in the making. This summer, Portland traded him for, in essence, a bad contract on a good, but aging, player. Sharpe is similar. He could define his generation. He might also become an interesting asterisk in Portland’s story. I’m not sure anybody knows what will happen.
I don’t think it’s an accident that Jrue Holiday was high on the acquisition list for General Manager Joe Cronin and company this summer. Much has been made of Jrue’s potential mentorship of Scoot Henderson. Sharpe might benefit from Holiday’s approach to the game just as much.
Shaedon is not just walking a fine line between stardom and highlight-punctuated mediocrity, he’s also trying to define what kind of player he’ll become. Everyone knows he has offensive potential. Portland’s coaching staff has been hammering the defense and overall-connection angles hard, to the point of benching Sharpe last season to get their message across. Having Holiday on the team might reinforce that culture.
It’s particularly critical for Sharpe to absorb this, I think. I know Portland fans have sparkles in their eyes when they think about him soaring over the rim and scoring 20 per game. Fair enough. But when you asked this question, I decided to try a little experiment. Let’s say Shaedon Sharpe becomes the Trail Blazers’ clear #1 option this season. How distinct would he be among his NBA peers? Put another way, where does Sharpe rank as a dominant threat across the league?
As a shorthand way of answering the question, I went through all other 29 NBA teams, looking at their best players. I divided the teams into three groups:
RED: This team fields a #1 option–more than one in some cases–clearly superior to Sharpe right now. One reason might be better offensive production. Another might be sheer gravity. If you could transplant the best player(s) from another team to Portland’s roster and displace Sharpe as the central focus, that team goes into the red category. Another way to look at it: Red teams have top options that you clearly could not trade Sharpe for under any circumstances.
YELLOW: This team fields a player or players who are roughly equivalent to Sharpe in statistical production. There’s no clear advantage for either franchise.
GREEN: Sharpe is clearly superior to the other team’s top option. If you transplanted Sharpe to that squad, he’d become the central figure nearly automatically.
Here are the results along with the player or players who define the ranking:
RED TEAMS
- Boston Celtics–Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown
- Toronto Raptors–Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes
- Philadelphia 76ers–Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid
- New York Knicks–Jaylen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges
- Cleveland Cavaliers–Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley
- Detroit Pistons–Cade Cunningham
- Indiana Pacers–Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam
- Milwaukee Bucks–Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Atlanta Hawks–Trae Young
- Orlando Magic–Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane
- Charlotte Hornets–LaMelo Ball
- Minnesota Timberwolves–Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle
- Oklahoma City Thunder–Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams
- Denver Nuggets–Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray
- Los Angeles Lakers–Luka Doncic, LeBron James
- Los Angeles Clippers–James Harden, Norman Powell, Kawhi Lenonard
- Golden State Warriors–Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler
- Phoenix Suns–Devin Booker
- Sacramento Kings–Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis
- Memphis Grizzlies–Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr.
- New Orleans Pelicans–Zion Williamson
- Houston Rockets–Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun
- San Antonio Spurs–Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox
- Dallas Mavericks–Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, probably Cooper Flagg
Yellow Teams
- Brooklyn Nets–Cam Thomas
- Chicago Bulls–Coby White
- Miami Heat–Tyler Herro
- Utah Jazz–Lauri Markkanen, John Collins
- Washington Wizards–CJ McCollum
Green Teams
None
My first reaction is simply, “Whoa! None???” Yeah, that’s right. None.
There’s a pretty clear argument that the Shaedon Sharpe we know, even at his best so far, is no better than the 25th-best #1 option in the NBA by team. It gets worse when you consider all the teams–and there are many–who have multiple lead players better than he right now. There’s a small argument to be made that the Blazers are the worst-positioned franchise in the league in this way. It’s completely accurate to say that there are no teams they have a clear advantage over in #1 options right now if Sharpe is their guy.
I am not trying to bag on Sharpe here. I’d rather have him in the fold than at least a few of the players listed above. But I think this list does demonstrate a few things.
- Shaedon Sharpe, as we know him now, is not that special, even though he’s special to the Blazers and their fans.
- He has some growth to do before he distinguishes himself, even if you only measure by offensive production. Almost everyone else in the league has a big point-producer too. That’s not bringing all 29 other teams success.
- The most critical realization is this. The easiest avenue to ascension on this list is not scoring alone. Even if Sharpe goes from his current 18.5 per game to 23–a huge leap–at best he’s taking a few of the red teams down to yellow and maybe the yellow bunch to green. Edging out the Jazz, Wizards, and Nets isn’t the point. If he wants to make a distinct impact, Sharpe needs to become more of a two-way, all-around player in addition to scoring big. At that point both he and the Blazers can put half of the league in their rear-view mirror and we can start talking about the rest of the roster making up the remaining gap over time.
The problem isn’t that Sharpe is failing to grow. His scoring has increased every year in the league so far. The problem is, that’s been his main–in some ways his only–impact. At best that leaves him duking it out with Trae Young and, if he’s really lucky, Zach LaVine in an academic discussion on who you’d rather have on your (ultimately underachieving) team.
Shaedon Sharpe needs to take a step forward in every way this season. That’s probably why the coaching staff is hammering this point. Otherwise we’re looking at a great video reel and 20-x points per game but still searching for the player who’s going to lead the Blazers to actual victories.
I don’t know that Sharpe will demonstrate everything needed in just one season, but he has to show that he’s more than an explosive leaper and occasional game-changer if he wants his team to succeed. I’d say that’s necessary in order for his pay to leap towards its theoretical maximum too. This is a contract-changing year for Sharpe. Having it be a career-changing and team-changing one would clarify things nicely. If not, the answer to your questions about him will be up to the beholder. That’s not going to be a comfortable spot for the Blazers or their fans.
Thanks for the question! You can always send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll try to answer as many as we can!
