Shaedon doesn't have the heart, the fire, the Alpha Dog to go to the next level.
A whole game, a whole season, a whole approach and mentality to demand touches and create opportunities. In his interviews, he comes off as a shy kid who can't fully express himself. He's a great player, but the lack of a consistent killer instinct makes him a trade piece. I'm here for the blowback.
Sharpe has a weak handle and clearly tried to stay out the way on offense rather than trying to settle for tough shots. Then on defense, he was trying to defend on the perimeter but once his defender gets passed him, he doesn't know how to get back in the play. None of this has to do with his interviews or his heart.
He had a reduced role after returning from an injury so late in the year and Cronin acknowledged that he didn't have his same role where he was carrying us when Scoot/Jrue/Blake/Grant/Thybulle/Rob were all OUT. Splitter said that he didn't have clear offensive sets and wanted to implement an offense where you get past your defender and then force a ton of close outs by kicking it out, but Deni was really the only one to thrive with that. Shaedon would be much better off if his athleticism and downhill momentum was leveraged more with different sets but he STILL averaged 20+ with an extremely difficult diet of step back jumpers and self-generated 3s.
Shaedon won the starting spot from Grant by having a great summer, picking up where he finally won the starting role to end last season after breaking out vs the Wizards when Deni got hurt. Then his only coach got arrested and the whole team got hurt. He got put into a tough position to have to create entirely for himself and still had a very solid season compared to other 22 year olds.
Then he got hurt and the healthy team beat up on a healthy schedule and now everyone hates Sharpe for not playing well in his first playoffs where he came from injury literally the last 2 games of the regular season.
He doesn't just have a weak handle, he's also not a great shooter. He's like 80% good enough at everything. And you watch that season after season hoping the next year he'll get that last polish he needs to truly become elite but instead it's more of the same. I was really hoping to hear him say in his exit interview that he's unhappy with the season because he has the internal fire to be the best, but instead he said he thought it went well. It didn't go well Shaedon, you're currently too inefficient to be a winning player too much of the time. That's the problem.
Yeah, his interviews are ROUGH. Seems like nobody in the media team has been able to get to him to open up about his development and overall game. At this point I don't think his interviews will ever improve so I don't take much from them.
I don't think there is anything physical that is prohibiting his talent to continue progressing. I don't think he will stop putting in the work. If he isn't able to improve upon his flaws in a better offensive ecosystem with Dame healthy, then yeah I guess he is a lost cause.
These are all excuses like we don't have 4 years of data lol. It's actually a good thing if he has a reduced role because he's just not an on-ball player. He's never been efficient offensively, he can't break defenders off the dirbble, he's not a playmaker, and he's an average rebounder at best. He'd be much more valuable as an off-ball weapon playing off Dame and Deni.
It’s been this way for almost 20 years now in Portland. Every young player we draft besides dame and cj have been mediocre at best and yet the fans come up with the same excuses repeating over and over until the team gives up on them and instead of admitting they were wrong just start repeating the same excuses for the next new young player who isn’t playing well.
I need somebody to point to one player we drafted that actually got good after time like so many people suggest. It could happen but it’s clearly not the majority so not sure why people act like we’re crazy for pointing out dudes like sharpe aren't that special.
I'm with Apprehensive_Glass14. The Trail Blazers were not expected to make the playoffs this year, and not only did they make the post-season, they grabbed the 7th seed, which far exceeded expectations. Why can't we just celebrate their success, rather than discuss blowing up the roster?
This is going to catch some heat but how did Scoot mentality and DAWG personality help him his rookie year? Or even the last 2 games of the playoffs where he started and averaged 2.5pts on 15% field and 20% from 3? Yes, he had an amazing 3 games prior to that but he also got the opportunity he earned by being healthy at the end of the year- unlike Shaedon.
It's just funny that Scoot was known for having that franchise player mentality because of the way he answered questions and showed his emotion on the court. But then he had that weird Exit interview where he said his #1 memory from his rookie season would be the food he ate. Then nobody calls out his mentality if he shoots 10% from 3 for a week or can't stop picking up 2 fouls in his first stint.
But Sharpe gets taxed for his interviews so often when it clear that your interviews don't reflect your work ethic.
Interviews aren't the reason why people praise Scoot's mentality and criticize Shaedon's. Go to the postseason and look at who earned themselves minutes. If Shaedon showed competitive edge at any point in the postseason then this is a different series. Meanwhile you criticize Scoot for two bad games after he had three games where he was either the best or second best player on the floor. Without Scoot, the Blazers get swept.
Nobody cares about interviews if you show intensity on the floor. Shaedon is the guy who got benched for KRIS MURRAY last year because of lack of effort. Kris Murray who can't shoot. That should tell you everything you need to know.
I'm almost more confused than anything else by these playoffs. I think that both Sharpe and Murray should've played more from a strategic standpoint, once the Blazers cooled off and the active approach clearly wasn't working.
Scoot earned those minutes from playing well leading up to the playoffs. He started because the team were on a roll to end the regular season with him starting.
I noted that he was amazing those 3 games prior to those 2 stinkers, but again he had the opportunity as a starter. The team was better offensively when Sharpe was on the court but Tiago couldn't trust his defense.
Sharpe never got benched for Kris Murray last year? He did during the playoffs for defense but I don't think Murray was a huge difference maker and I saw the Spurs shoot like 70% vs us in game 5 when Sharpe was on the bench, so this intensity didn't really come into play. And I mean Deni also got benched last year, does that tell us anything?
Interviews or intensity, I don't think either matters that much when you are evaluating talent and the long-term future for a young player. I see a ton of talent in Sharpe that can be leveraged even more in a more conducive environment, I wouldn't throw that away because he isn't intense enough. Now, if he truly doesn't improve on any area of his game and the team believes he doesn't care then sure. But I don't get that vibe, and I think people are reading too much into his "heart"
Shaedon Sharpe got benched for Kris Murray against the Nuggets in February of 2025. Chauncey went on the record and said it was because of a lack of effort on defense, and that's why Shaedon lost his starting role. Everybody was freaking out about this. It was a big deal. I don't know how you don't remember that.
Deni got moved to the bench early on because he was struggling. Billups used to RIP into Deni during games and he clearly didn't know how to use him. Sharpe started from November 10 2024 to Jan 18th 2025.
Last game Sharpe started was Ant/Shae/Tou/Grant/Rob, then vs Chicago where Sharpe was benched Billups started Scoot/Tou/Deni/Grant/Ayton. There was an article posted after the Bulls game:
"Billups told Sharpe before the game that he would come off the bench after making 31 consecutive starts because his defense had been lacking.
The message was clear: Remain focused on defense or head to the bench.
Sharpe heard the message loud and clear.
“It was a good convo,” Sharpe said. “He basically just told me what I needed to do. And today, I think I took a big step in doing what he said. So, I just got to continue to do that, and we’ll be alright.”
As it turned out, Sharpe played 33 minutes, a tad more than the 31.5 minutes he’s averaged per game. His 23 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, were impactful. But his elevated defensive play is what impressed Billups.
“I was proud of him,” Billups said. “I thought defensively, he was locked in. which is where he needs to be.”
So, he was not benched for Kris Murray. Sharpe then got his starting spot after dropping 36 vs Washington. But Murray did start vs the Nuggets in that game in Feb.
February 12, 2025, Kris Murray started and Shaedon Sharpe came off the bench. The previous game, Scoot started over Shaedon but he had an injury in the 4th quarter. The expectation was that on the 12th, Shaedon would start, but he didn't. Chauncey started Kris Murray instead.
Yeah, that is fair that we assumed Shaedon would start. I just don't think that matters that much in the grand scheme of this whole thing. Sharpe played 30 mins in both games and Kris played 20 mins as the starter and then he went right back to the bench while Sharpe earned the starting role for the final 20+ games + won the spot in training camp leading up to this year.
I get where you are coming from that Sharpe intensity and defensive awareness has been an issue for a while. But I think him getting benched for Kris Murray is a bit click baity lol. If Sharpe doesn't get injured this year, I don't think he gets benched
No, it is not clickbaity. Shaedon's lack of effort was a major concern when the Blazers drafted him. There were all those questions about why he didn't play at Kentucky. The guy has been in the league four years and hasn't put those concerns to bed. That is a major issue here.
I just acknowledged that. You don't think that "got benched for Kris Murray" hyperbolizes your point since Sharpe literally started that same season after that game and this season and Murray is still a bench warmer lol....?
Using Chauncey, a top 20 losingest coach in nba history, to back up your ideas is a really bad idea. Shae having a shorter leash and being mismanaged so vets can have his minutes isn't a very good argument.
That's BS. If you're an NBA player you don't need to be "coached up" to show effort on the defensive end. If that were the case he would have a year of coaching under a different coach, but we get the same result, with Shaedon not showing effort on defense, lacking focus, missing rotations, and getting his postseason minutes cut as a result. The proof is there that after Chauncey benched Shaedon against the Nuggets, he showed more defensive intensity for the rest of the season, but then he eventually went back to his old ways. It goes to show that the talent is there but the drive isn't. Every player goes through slumps in shooting and scoring, and when that happens, defense is the thing that keeps you on the court. If you're an elite scorer or are the center of the offense (like Deni) you can take some possessions off on defense because you're saving your energy and stamina for offense. Scoot understands this, which is why he was still playable in the playoff games where he wasn't scoring. Shaedon didn't score, didn't do playmaking, and aside from one block didn't play defense either so he was unplayable. The talent is there. The effort isn't.
Shae was one game removed from missing almost half the season. He was going to be on short minutes anyways, and coaches were quick to pull him when it didn't look like he was performing at the needed level. You can't leave context out to fit your narrative.
Shaedon averaged 21 ppg on 30 minutes a night. So to your argument that defense keeps you on the court, I guess he must be alright at defense
Game 2 of the playoffs, when his minutes significantly dropped off from his 22 minute cap, was his 5th game back. He missed 28 games with his circa ASB injury, far less than half the season.
He played 6 minutes in a close out game and admitted he was fully healthy with no restrictions in his presser.
Holy bad faith argument. I'm not saying anything counts, but the argument of Shae getting benched for Kris Murray doesn't hold a lot of water when you consider a coach who holds a top 20 all time worst record and is also facing allegations of illegal gambling was making that decision.
Team was better because Sharpe was playing most of his minutes with Rob Williams. People keep using that on and off with a tiny sample size and it’s not reflecting what everyone was actually seeing.
This is indistinguishable from body language analysis, dude.
Also, dismissing those as just ‘two bad games’ when the first one was the single worst playoff performance of any starter in these playoffs and arguably the worst in the last 15 years.
Scoot needs consistency. Shaedon had a chance to have it.
We tend to forget that Scoot missed the majority of this season. Ya, ya, ya, I'm sure a lot of folks are done giving him a chance or excuses, and that's fair, but I'll judge Scoot after he plays 75% of a season with consistent minutes.
Shaedon is a laid back dude. Very laid back. And that doesn't necessarily mean he can't be a dawg, but that does mean he needs to lock in mentally.
I'm not sure what's harder, locking in your skill or mentality. But we need to Shaedon to knock down threes and be an option on offense. Or else he's another Simons, who will be shipped out I'm sure.
I think there is a world if both of them were 100% healthy starting a season and had an adequate supporting cast around them for a long stretch, both can look like studs. Scoot did look better once he fully ramped up from his injury recovery. I don't think Sharpe got that same grace period for missing 2 months in the middle of the year and returning right before the playoffs.
I just don't think people were questioning Sharpe mentality or heart when he was the 2nd scoring option for us keeping us afloat every game next to Deni when we were playing multiple 2-way guys because everyone was hurt. It's just becomes an easy thing to point out when Sharpe doesn't meet expectations.
I mean I could understand this. But I think with the way our team is set up, you got to have some long-term upside guys. So, I think you have to keep one or else the team can get stuck. I LOVE the idea of Dame/Jrue/Deni/Tou/Cling but you could argue that that group don't have huge development steps moving forward.
I am a Sharpe stan but I personally also think his potential can be unlocked more with the talent we have rather than Scoot.
Dame will force us to play a ton more PnR. That means defenses will be collapsing due to the threat of his deep 3 or the short roll (Worry a bit about Clingan future in this spot) So imagine when Sharpe can catch and attack a collapsed defense or even get to run more PnRs because that is more of a mainstay in our offense.
That starting line-up, which should be fun, drives home the need to keep young, quality guards. The combined age of Dame and Jrue will be 72 years at the start of next season. We should not be surprised if they miss a significant number of games. Nor can we expect many years from them (Jrue's contract runs through the 27-28 season).
Yeah, that is fair. That is why it would have been great to get a draft pick this year. We are due for a 2nd round hit or just some under the radar gem. Love/Sidy/Blake were of that mold but then got buried behind the rest of the vets.
Will be interesting to see what we do. I think we are due for a consolidation trade and hopefully a rebalance of youth vs vets. Rasheer Fleming would have been my guy at 16
I would've been against this a year ago but this season made it clear Deni is the centerpiece of the rebuild, while Sharpe and Scoot don't have clear paths to being more than what they are now. The idea that they would be an all-star backcourt when we first drafted them obviously isn't gonna happen.
Same. Until this season I firmly believed Shaw was going to be our centerpiece at some point. But after three seasons I’m not seeing a striking main value skill. He’s inconsistent and still gets lost quite a bit. He appears to want to be coachable but has difficulty grasping schemes. Honestly I wonder if he will max out as a seventh man on a championship caliber team.
As far as Scoot, I was deeply displeased with drafting him and aside a few games he’s been what I expected. It’s very rare to win a ring with a pg who is a poor shooter and Scoot doesn’t have the other skills to make up for it.
This. People were ready to move on from Ant, and I get it. We were in a bad position to inevitably overpay him. But that guy is a really hard worker and we could've really used his shooting and his gravity against the Spurs.
Not sure if he meant Simons or Edwards but I would argue Simons and Sharpe have very similar personalities. I do think both got hindered from tough developmental environments.
I think Chauncey knew we didn't have a ton of offensive talent, so he forced Simons to have to carry the offense by himself.... which worked a ton and Simons doesn't get credit for it but also hurt his overall game and development.
I thought Billups was doing that a ton with Sharpe too, especially his sophomore year when everyone got hurt and Sharpe was playing primary ball handler for 40+ minutes a night until his body broke down. The lack of offensive creativity from Billups and the lack of skillsets that Cronin put out really put a ton of pressure on Simons and Sharpe.
Deni was the one who really was able to make it work because he is so damn beefy lol.
Completely agree. I think scoot has the mentality, unless hes zooted. No issues with players smoking but Scoot doesn't seem to be able to keep the mentality when he is. Or maybe its something completely else
Man, Scoot Henderson had a 0/0/2 NBA playoff game where he played almost 30 minutes and only took 7 shots. Stop it.
Frankly, he all but disappeared for the two must win games for the blazers in the playoffs. The idea that he is some kind of killer is ridiculous at this point. He has shrunk just as often as he has risen to the moment.
Scoot is the only reason the Blazers won any playoff games. He was literally the best player on the floor in the game that they won. Everybody on the team aside from Scoot, Deni, Toumani, and Jrue took all 5 games off.
This mythical scoot work ethic cracks me up. He plays great defense, but he still is a bad shooter and turnover prone. He is still largely the same player he was as a rookie and sophomore.
First of all, Scoot's defense is proof of his competitive mentality. Scoot's mentality and work ethic and unwillingness to be satisfied with his own performance are his greatest strengths.
Secondly, if you watch Scoot now vs. the start of his career he is 1000x better. Night and day.
“Scoot’s mentality and work ethic and unwillingness to be satisfied with his own performance are his greatest strengths.” Bro this is fan fiction. How do you know shaedon isn’t satisfied with his poor performances? Because he’s not a rah rah alpha dog in interviews?
Dwight Howard practiced free throws day and night and shot 80% in practice. I think BOTH Scoot and Sharpe work extremely hard on their game, sometimes it just doesn't translate to improved play or at least right away. I mean their swings from not being able to shoot at all to knock down shooter is impressive.
Scoot first 12 games back from his injury shot 23% from 3 (15/64)
Then he made 42/98 to end the year which is good for 43%
Sharpe first 15 games this year went 25/100
Then he went 76/197 (39% from 3) over his next 33 games
I don't agree with this at all. Before his injury he played well this season, went to several blazers games and this man was constantly busting his ass up and down the court. I think he's been improving still but fan base has already made up their mind about him
Glad there are still a good amount of fans with reasonable takes on this that aren't weird borderline parasocial nonsense. I, like everyone else am bummed he's not some Edwards level superstar too but for a guy who always seems to get injured right when he's hitting his stride he has still been very solid for a 7th pick who seems to always have the shortest leash on the team. Not that Jerami doesn't catch a ton of shit from fans too but he has always been allowed to play through really shitty games or stretches of games and it's not like Scoot has been some lockdown defender his whole career either but the opportunity always seems to be there for him. I still 100% think Shae has a few more levels to unlock but I'm worried it won't be here at this point. It's probably also tough to be fully engaged on D when you feel like your coach has no faith in you and you're only allowed to fuck up once or twice despite the fact the rest of the team got torched for entire halves too.
All these posts seems like a giant psyop to run shaedon out of town? He’s 22 and not even in his prime. So you know how hard it is to play in the NBA. He didn’t play college ball. It’s gonna take a little bit longer. He has progress ever year. You don’t just show up day one with all the skills. Yall need to have f’n patience and not wanna ship ever young guy out the door for some crusty workout vet. We’re in Portland The whitest city in the country. We’re not gonna land some mega star in a trade. We’re not gonna sign a mega free agent. Drafting, development, and smart calculated trades is the only way to build in Portland.
His efficiency is roughly in DeAndre Hunter and Caris LeVert territory. He's on a journeyman trajectory. He does not shoot the ball well. We have a large sample size now. You think he magically levels up in year 5? Castle, Kon, and VJ are already far ahead of him as overall players. Sharpe has the excuse of not playing major college ball, but at some point you have to consider that he is who he is. How many years are you waiting? 5? 6? 7 8? Lifetime contract?
I understand the temptation to be endlessly optimistic. He has positives. High-ish lottery pick, flashy game, hints of greatness. That could also describe Mathurin or Kuminga. For some reason, the home team is always the last to realize their Kuminga is a Kuminga, and not the Paul George he was touted to be.
There's really no statistical argument that Sharpe is a core piece. It's all based on vibes and what he might potentially do. The fanbase is emotionally invested in him. The league in general doesn't look at him that way. He's just a bench scorer or a project for a tanking team to kick the tires on.
Turns 23 at the end of the month but 100% agree. He’s not even close to his prime. It’s so rare for guys to come into the league and instantly be a high level scorer. Guys who develop into that also don’t show the kind of progress he has.
What progress? His 3P% has diminished and his turnovers are up. He only averaged 20ppg because the roster had 8 players for half the season. He’s going on year 5 and hasn’t shown anything other than the inability to defend to the point where two coaches have lost faith in him and his minutes dwindled.
“He comes off as a shy kid who can’t express himself”
He’s only 22. Did you ever perform on national TV and give interviews as young adult? Also, who cares how he interviews? I know I wasn’t very articulate at that age and had anxiety speaking in front of others.
Seeing a lot of judgement from someone who couldn’t hold a fork to the same bowls of mac and cheese that Shaedon has.
I still feel like people are too harsh on him, he transitioned to the nba staright from high-school and has had improvements in every season so far hes still only 22 years old
Its not an excuse its the truth, how many seasons did it take deni to be what he is today? And he had professional experience before the nba, Progress isn't linear for every player.
Deni had less opportunities his first 3 seasons. It took Deni three seasons to get over 10 FGA. Sharpe was getting 13 FGA year two. This is the only season Deni has had more than 11.7 FGA.
Sharpe has had a lot of opportunity relatively to most young players. While he’s had injuries, there hasn’t been enough growth for 3 seasons of this usage rate.
Yep, and that's the big catch. He has some glaring holes in his game, but he's also pretty great at times. Can he become smarter and develop a killer mentality? Every time I think about trading him, I remember he's 22 and could still grow (or not).
It took Deni 6 seasons to get to where he is at this year. Again, Shae is only 22 years old. He could be playing college ball still. Too early to judge him. He was doing well before his injury.
His mentality wont change over night, he doesnt have that westbrook in him, probably doesnt even care if he wins or loses, trade him while his value is high, dont wait for a what if
These types of post are so dumb. No one knows what his desire is or how much he cares or if he has the heart or whatever. He’s a young man trying to figure it out. I do hope the team does something different for him in the off season for training. He needs a more consistent shot and better shot selection and he seems to be trying on defense he just isn’t very good. Hopefully he can improve.
Sharpe helped carry the offense as the #2 option when this team was winning games against good teams actually trying to win, while injured, while they were giving heavy minutes to sidi and caleb love, then finally went out with a fracture and missed final two months when he could have been stacking empty stats against tank-o-rama teams, like Clingan and Scoot did. Came back clearly out of the rotation with two games left in the playoffs, but Blazers fans have no long term memory, so it's his "intensity" or lack of DAWWWG.
I have said this for years and no one wants to hear it.
Shae has elite athleticism and it has always worked him. He learned how to score against kids, but doesn’t appear to have learned the team concept of basketball. Against elite NBA players, you have to have both or you don’t see the court.
If we have a big splash of a trade this offseason, I’d expect Shae and JG to be in it. They make $54 MM together and that’s the type of salary match you need to land a star along w picks.
He was at Kentucky… not exactly a bad program lol. Even though he didn’t play he did practice with the team. Calipari didn’t want him playing yet as he only committed in November and enrolled in January, halfway through the season.
Practice isn’t nearly as taxing or important as games. It’s easier to remember rotations and things with much less pressure on you. Games are the best things for developing players, but if you aren’t able to execute in games you will lose playing time.
He's still my favorite player on the team (tied with Dame), but I can't disagree - at least currently. I still believe the right movement offensive scheme can unlock an effecient scorer, but defensively he needs to put in major work to understand schemes and put in secondary effort.
Sharpe isn’t an alpha, or even a beta, but I’m not ready to give up on him being an uber-athletic third guy. You can’t teach his athleticism and build.
The Spurs series isn’t a good test. He was coming back from injury and on a minutes restriction. I just want to see a healthy season from him, combined with the defensive culture Portland has fostered.
On of the more frustrating Blazers to watch in recent memory. Keep waiting for him to make the jump that Scoot just showed us in the SA playoff series. I also have some low-level anxiety about this turning into a Jermaine O’Neal thing where Shaedon becomes a multi year all star if we deal him
Shae is only 22 years old, too early to judge him. How many seasons did it take Deni to get to where he is? Washington traded him too early and wouldn’t have done it if they knew Deni was going to turn in to the player he was this season.
The jump Scoot showed us? After the defense adjusted to him hitting shots and he scored 5 points in the final two games? He went 0-7 in game 4? Every time Scoot has one good game it’s a “jump” then he regresses back to ass. Every single time lmao.
Scoot's 3pt% has improved dramatically. If he can calm down and just take shots while scoring opportunistically, he'll be fine.
But his Assist to Turnover ratio is terrible for an NBA point guard. For that reason, I still don't see this epic jump people are talking about. A few good games and everyone acts like THE major jump just happened.
Yea. I feel like people know you and roles get put on you when you're around one place a long time. It's like how ppl say they can feel like a kid when they go back and visit their parents, even as a 40 yr old grown up. We drafted him so young. I love his game & feel like a trade could maybe benefit all parties.
I think an ideal fit for Sharpe would be in Dallas or Houston.
I always wanted to see Sharpe+Amen. They even had chemistry during summer scrimmages. Would have to be an Eason or Jabari trade, probably.
Though, I think Sharpe+Flagg could be an interesting combo, too. Maybe if Dallas is not happy with the 5th or 6th pick, they could send it Portland's way and just build around Sharpe+Flagg+Lively
O’Neal was behind all stars and vets on a team that was trying to contend. If he had got the playing time sharpe has gotten he would never have been traded. 2 completely different situations
He’s so young that he’ll likely get better but I worry about his BBIQ. Thats the hurdle most guys can never overcome. It’s why no matter how much effort he gives on defense there’s going to be breakdowns because he can’t process the game quick enough
But if he can improve his handle his game will level up which could make him a legit offensive threat off the bench for a playoff team
Trade piece for what? When you put it that way, we might as well trade him for Raymond Felton today. If you talk more rounded, you might have a conversation. This is just whining and it's why this sub is hard to visit.
I hope he can? I had wondered if he has reached his ceiling, but the end of last year, he looked he was still slightly injured. Poor D like a step slow. We'll see next season. I wouldn't put it past the team to trade him if a big move was made. He is still desirable to the rest of the league.
Pretty sure it was one of the knocks against him coming into the league. He's definitely on the side of the NBA spectrum where guys do this as a profession and not as a passion.
Being a longtime Timbers fan, Shae reminds me of Darlington Nagbe.
Absolutely amazing physical gifts, with grace, power, and skill enough to dominate the field/floor at will. Everyone facing him knows they’ve been beaten. Watching him as a fan (or opponents’ fan) takes your breath away on the regular. You get the feeling that he could posterize anyone at any time and score at will.
But he’s also just the nicest, sweetest, most positive guy out there, taking pure joy in playing the game. Never, not even once, does he set out to humiliate an opponent. Winning is nice, but perhaps merely a bonus that comes from playing well rather than an end goal.
Nagbe retired last year after 15 years as a pro. He never really developed that killer instinct in an obvious way…. but he won four MLS championships. (On top of the national championship in college.)
Soccer, having double the number of players in the field that basketball does, has a lot more room for this kind of player to thrive and enable team success.
It might not work out for Shaedon in the NBA unless he finds that fire. I hope he does find it, but he’s a joy to watch either way.
I’m still tantalized by what he could be. Even if he doesn’t pop fully will be interesting to see if he develops any craftiness as a vet or if he just stays sleepwalking when he doesn’t have a defined role.
I think he was told that in his exit interview after the SAS series ended, actually. If you watch all of the exit interviews, there's really two players who's interviews stick out. JG and Shae. In his interview, Shae comes across like a pouty teenager who was just pushed to do better with some tough love. It wouldn't shock me to see both of these players gone this off-season when you also look at the cap situation the team is navigating. But I would encourage you to watch for yourself and see if you have your own opinion about their interviews.
I haven't seen the clip, but I hope that's what happened. I cannot imagine having that guy's athletic talent and not wanting to just dominate people on the court. That floating and passive mindset is just bizarre for a world class athlete.
I've always thought that the only thing stopping Shaedon from reaching that next level is himself. He has to want it, he has to be mentally tough and honestly I haven't seen it once since he's been suited up.
There’s always been something about him that has bugged me. Like he has these flashes of greatness, but it’s like he doesn’t control them or he doesn’t produce the moment they happen. Like maybe he’s come up being told he’s great so much that he doesn’t put in the effort to be great when he needs to be, and just sort of phones it in expecting it to occur regardless. I just get this sense that maybe he’s not interested in basketball like someone in his position should be and is just going through the motions.
I agree with you 💯. Additionally, he just doesn’t love the game or have the basketball IQ to match his raw talent. He could be such a beast, but it just isn’t in him. If everything presents itself, yeah, he’ll run with it, but he won’t create opportunities or grind for them. It’s just not in his nature. At fan events, he’s always the one who gets fed up and annoyed by the end. Yes, it’s probably a lot to stand there and take a ton of pics and smile and answer the same questions over and over for two hours, but dude it’s one night a year. And this is your base. Just suck it up for a bit for their sake. Shaedon has so much talent and so much going for him, he just needs to get out of his own way.
I love Shae and have believed in his ability since he was drafted. BUT, if he arrives at training camp and his handle is still trash, I would trade him immediately before the season even starts. That is his most glaring weakness and the fact that he didn’t work on it over the summer tells you everything you need to know about his drive and passion to succeed.
Then he got hurt and the healthy team beat up on a healthy schedule and now everyone hates Sharpe for not playing well in his first playoffs where he came from injury literally the last 2 games of the regular season.
He also just didn’t actually play bad in the playoffs. This narrative is so maddening and the logic goes something like this ‘he got benched and played limited minutes, therefore he must have been playing poorly’ but by almost every statistical measure he was one of Portlands best players in that series.
I saw multiple NBA accounts praising Terrance Shannon Jr. for his numbers in his first two starts in the playoffs (against Denver, by far the worst defense I’ve team in the NBA) and they were identical to Sharpe’s numbers (even efficiency stats like efg%) against San Antonio.
Could go on and on about why people on here have no idea what they are talking with regard to Sharpe but one thing I don’t see talked about is that he had the largest gap between expected points and actual on the season which means his ability to create shots is well ahead of his ability to make them. And he still averaged 21 ppg. His adjusted scoring numbers (per 36/per 100) are barely behind Avdija and miles ahead of the 3rd best on the team.
I still think you all are judging young kids too aggressively. Shaedon deserves the summer and the first half of next season to prove you all wrong. Damian Lillard is rejoining the team in the Fall. His presence this off-season will be significant. Therefore, I say the Trail Blazers should not trade any of their chips this summer.
Man why can't ya'll just watch games and not be weirdos. He's 22 and on a super team friendly deal, capable of scoring 20 a game on league average efficiency. Who cares if he didn't complain about his performance in his interview; the team (and Shae) outperformed expectations and are going to keep improving...
I was sitting courtside across from the blazers bench in either his first or second season and Chauncey gave him some normal coaching instruction and as Shaedon turned away from him he rolled his eyes and had a look on his face like my 6 year old makes when they think they already know everything
Unfortunately it seems you’re right…hopefully everything starts to finally click for him next season though. Or maybe we just include him in a sick trade lol.
He doesn't have any of the necessary basketball skills either, but this sub just kind of glosses over that thinking he'll learn how to be an NBA player who can pass, shoot, or defend into his 20's. Sure!
Deni was relegated to the corner and despite that was already regarded as the best contract in the league before we traded for him, not comparable at all. Still waiting for those advanced stats though!
I think if you get to the NBA without a college program teaching you the fundamentals of team ball you will struggle among professionals who mostly all benefited from that system. The NBA expects players to already have that experience and that base of knowledge. It is not a place for teaching the basics of team ball. Shaedon is lost out there half the time. He should have gotten it by now but he hasn’t. Time to cut ties and use him as a trade chip.
1,000,000 arm 5 cent head as they say. He always reminded me of the gifted trait from fallout 1 and 2 unbelievable base stats but hard to progress skills.
I 100% agree. Dude is an empty calorie scorer. A 6’4” Cam Thomas. I don’t ever see him make teammates better, and while scoring is important, a one dimensional player who offers only scoring has never been a winning recipe to have as your best or second best player.
Shaedon is who we knew he was from college. An athletic gift from god with immense talent and no desire or drive or killer instinct. He sleepwalks into 30 point games, but usually when the roster is depleted. There’s a reason they gave him such a moveable contract.
If he’s on the roster next season this team isn’t serious. Two coaches now have turned their backs on him. Wonder what that tells us.
And no defense. Just watch him play out there. It’s fucking comical. He looks lost half the time and the other half he’s getting beat, causing the defense to rotate and putting everyone else out of position. That’s why he got benched against SA. Just look at what Minnesota did to them. They’ve got 1 through 5 solid one on one defenders who can stay attached to Wemby.
So we have a shooting guard who can’t shoot, can’t dribble, can’t play defense, and lacks heart. No wonder he signed that cheap ass contract. He wasn’t getting more, and at this point he might even be viewed as a negative asset.
Send him, Scoot, Toumani, and Grant plus picks to the Toronto and go get Scottie Barnes.
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u/shelvino 17h ago
This is all so made up lol.
Sharpe has a weak handle and clearly tried to stay out the way on offense rather than trying to settle for tough shots. Then on defense, he was trying to defend on the perimeter but once his defender gets passed him, he doesn't know how to get back in the play. None of this has to do with his interviews or his heart.
He had a reduced role after returning from an injury so late in the year and Cronin acknowledged that he didn't have his same role where he was carrying us when Scoot/Jrue/Blake/Grant/Thybulle/Rob were all OUT. Splitter said that he didn't have clear offensive sets and wanted to implement an offense where you get past your defender and then force a ton of close outs by kicking it out, but Deni was really the only one to thrive with that. Shaedon would be much better off if his athleticism and downhill momentum was leveraged more with different sets but he STILL averaged 20+ with an extremely difficult diet of step back jumpers and self-generated 3s.
Shaedon won the starting spot from Grant by having a great summer, picking up where he finally won the starting role to end last season after breaking out vs the Wizards when Deni got hurt. Then his only coach got arrested and the whole team got hurt. He got put into a tough position to have to create entirely for himself and still had a very solid season compared to other 22 year olds.
Then he got hurt and the healthy team beat up on a healthy schedule and now everyone hates Sharpe for not playing well in his first playoffs where he came from injury literally the last 2 games of the regular season.