If the Portland Trail Blazers plan to surge in the 2025-26 NBA season it’s a good bet that Shaedon Sharpe will occupy center stage. The fourth-year guard averaged 18.5 points last season. The Blazers are in need of a clear #1 option on offense and 20+ points alongside. Sharpe is the clearest potential candidate to leap those hurdles and lead Portland into the future.
Michael Shearer of HoopsHype agrees with that premise. He’s named Sharpe as one of his seven candidates to have a breakout season this
year. Shearer explains:
Sharpe averaged 18.5 points per game last season, so it’s fair to wonder how much better he can be. He pairs a level of athleticism matched only by the Thompson twins (who are too obvious candidates to be worth including in this list) with a silky-looking jump shot.
…I say looking because it hasn’t fallen at particularly high rates – Sharpe’s three-point percentage has actually decreased over his three years of experience. But Sharpe’s shot is mechanically sound, and he’s a good free-throw shooter. He spent last season adding notably more craft to his game, taking better care of the ball and finishing stronger at the rim. If the three-ball starts splashing the way it should (and his defense improves enough that Chauncey Billups doesn’t have to keep benching him), Sharpe still has borderline All-Star potential.
Shearer’s other candidates include Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard of the Indiana Pacers, Sam Hauser of the Boston Celtics, and Charlotte Hornets wing Brandon Miller.
