Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe continues his growth curve despite the heat

Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe is going through a process this season that people in all areas have to go through: the non-linear nature of development. This is a fact of life for young NBA players, even those with lottery-typing talent and jumping ability.

After a glorious streak of three straight 20-plus point games with solid efficiency, Sharpe’s line dipped slightly on the graph during Portland’s 119-98 home loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday. The third-year guard still tallied 22 points and five assists, but did so while shooting 35% and had a career-high six turnovers in the loss.

Regardless, the Trail Blazers and their fans can better assess Sharpe’s journey of late – through his ups and downs – because he’s moving more aggressively and responsibly.

“We got him where we want him now,” Portland head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters after the loss. “We want him to be aggressive. We want him to attack at any time. We play through him a lot.”

Billups has said so many times this season that the coaching staff wants Sharpe to attack the rim more and put his stamp on the offensive team. This happens more and more regularly as he learns to resist his passivity, and the results tend to increase.

During Portland’s six-game losing streak in early December, Sharpe averaged 14.8 points on 13.2 field goal attempts per game. In the 12 games since then, he has averaged 20.6 points per game while increasing his shot attempts to 16.5 per game – easily the second-most attempts on the team, behind only Anfernee Simons with 18. Along with the improved scoring ability, Sharpe continues showing flashes of play and pick-and-roll passing that seem like an unexpected bonus for a player best known for his athleticism.

“You can see him getting a lot more confident, going out there and playing his game,” said Simons, who scored a team-high 28 points on 10-for-23 shooting against Miami. “It’s exciting to see.”

With this added emphasis on offense, the Blazers begin to succeed through Sharpe and fail through him. It’s a move the franchise needs to make if it wants the young guard to make the leap and give the city its next All-Star.

Saturday against Miami was an example of the Blazers playing through Sharpe a lot and him struggling with the task. Still, he was aggressive again, shooting eight in the first quarter and 20 in the game. Aside from the difficult first five minutes, in which Sharpe started 0-4 with three turnovers, he showed some promise, including a soft behind-the-back pass on the counterattack . The struggles weren’t as bad as they were early last season, when he seemed almost overwhelmed by the sudden increase in minutes and ball-handling duties due to injuries – he just wasn’t as tight and impactful as one would hope against Miami .

Billups took more criticism of Sharpe’s defensive performance than anything he did offensively. He pointed out a few backdoor cuts and other useless reporting that drove Sharpe crazy.

“I thought he was a little slow defensively tonight, he got beat a couple times,” Billups said. “…If he wants to be a man, I have to trust you and be able to rely on you on both sides.”

Billups said he’s more wary of such plays than offensive mistakes. As long as Sharpe tries to get his teammates involved and make the right play, the Blazers will live with the growing pains. Aside from “lazy” turnovers, Billups says some offensive issues are simply a natural part of the development curve.

“When you start making moves and people really start game-planning for you and you see different coverage, it takes a while to get used to the coverage,” he said.

Billups said staying efficient in the face of that pressure comes down to experience, and Simons made the same point. The seventh-year guard faces a similar learning curve. A few seasons ago, he had to adjust to increased defensive attention as he transitioned from floor spacer to high-scoring lead guard. Simons said he couldn’t offer Sharpe any magic words for tackling this next level, but he was confident in his young teammate’s ability to succeed.

“At the end of the day, you actually have to go through it to get better at these things,” Simons said. “He will find his way.”