Is Shaedon Sharpe still the hope of the Trail Blazer?

When the Portland Trail Blazers Shaedon Sharpe in the NBA design of 2022 designed the seventh overall rank of the high school product, the High School product was a mystery. He had boundless sportiness and nose to gate, but there was no experience in organized high -ranking game. He was the typical project player, a flyer on a star who had made loose comparisons with Kobe Bryant in the skills and potential effects on both sides of the soil.

At two and a half years, Sharpe is going well and scores 17.1 points per game at 44.3% shooting off the ground and plays for 30.2 minutes. This is certainly a decent return on capital for a MID Lottery election. But is Sharpe still one of the great hopes for the franchise? This is the topic of today’s Blazer Edge Mailbag.

Dear Dave,

Simple question maybe serious answer. Do you think of Shaedon Sharpe? Start the season he was my breakout player and the best chance to develop into a real star we had. However, I start doubting that. What do you think? Could he still be a big time?

Trey

People hate hearing that, but when waiting with a Blazers player pays dividends, it will be Sharpe. We still haven’t seen him in full bloom. In this way, consider it more like a center or a point guard than a wing. He may have to get into his fifth season before we know what he is really capable of.

Most of it is due to his pre-NBA background, which was honestly not much. Only Scoot Henderson competed in stuck, confused games in his first two seasons. It’s not a knock. It couldn’t have been otherwise. Sharpe came to the league due to sportiness and potential for value. When he learned the league, he had to ride the horse that brought him. Otherwise he wouldn’t have seen the ground at all.

The problem when jumping to the NBA is that everyone is sporty. Sharpe is still shining the pack, but the edge is not that great. In the high school, even in a college game, she will leave the hyper-athleticism wide open, shoot in an empty space or scream in glee while she is forgotten the opponent. In the professionals, the sport buys that they are perhaps three centimeters and a few tenths of a second. Professional players are good enough to convert this room and the time into decent attempts. (How many three pointers have you seen Swish Home, which has started your life, which hardly clarify the defense attorneys?) But if you are used to three foot space, three centimeters don’t seem to be much.

So we saw a lot of frustration of Sharpe when he got the rock early. He succeeded in catching and falling, but everything else was a dribble tattoo on the Moda Center Floor. This year he seems to be more comfortable to play off-ball and carry out his movements faster and achieve better effect. At least this part of his game has developed.

When the rating is included, we come to the other questions. I have three big ones.

First, and probably the least important, can Sharpe fit effectively? I don’t read it as a Jamal Crawford type and can create an insult from any position on the floor at any time. He is more of a single corer that can convert in his streets when he is open or individually covered. Opening it or making it covered with individuals will be the problem as soon as it becomes a 20-point type.

Sharpe got into a collection. He tends to get the ball at the end of the possession, either through the shooting clock or its own inclinations. If he catches it, he will probably make the shot. This enables the defense to separate him. It has become routine enough that you can see how his teammates stop moving after getting the ball.

To become a temporary threat would help the process considerably. If the defenders visited, then withdraw to switch off lanes or cover other players, he will give him the place he needs for the first dribble and the subsequent burning. It will make an effort. He will also need teammates that can consistently score. Both are in the works.

The three-point shot is the second concern. Its percentage has dropped from 36.0% in its first season to 33.3% of its second to 30.9% this year. He takes more threes and beats less. Part of it is the difference between now his own shot and the playing of Damian Lillard a few years ago. But that won’t change. If Sharpe cannot worry about his shooting ability, he will only create the problem without a fit in a different way. He will get a first dribble against defenders who play from him, but not a second.

The last factor is the only head coach Chauncey Billups has already identified: defense. For this reason, the trainer sent Sharpe to the bench in the middle of the season. For my eyes, it looks like his defense efforts have improved, but there is a big difference between the defense of players and starters in the second line. His defects can be hidden rather than eliminated. It should be remembered that the Kobe comparisons because of Sharpes potential as a came Two-way Star. If he scores 22 points but cannot defend anyone, he becomes someone you have to compensate for in the starting line -up instead of a pillar.

These are the factors that I observe in the next few seasons, while Sharpe changes to his next contract. He is not cemented in the player he is now. It has shown growth in certain areas. Keep in the oven and bake the cake and let us see if we can delight it in his fourth and fifth year.

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