The Portland Trail Blazers lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 118-105, on Thursday night. But wins and losses are for chumps and dweebs (or, you know, competitive teams. Same thing). Let’s talk about Shaedon Sharpe instead.
Sharpe made his season debut, and let me tell you, he looked fantastic. Despite missing the first eight games of season due to shoulder injury, Sharpe showed no signs of rust. He was smooth and confident, scoring 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting.
His ability to score in various ways—whether it was mid-range jumpers, attacking the rim, or hitting from beyond the arc—was impressive. Sharpe even made one of the best passes we’ve probably ever seen from him, a no-look dime to Toumani Camara in the fourth quarter. The Blazers roster is crowded with young players deserving of opportunity but those questions can be solved further down the roster.
We saw 20:11 of Sharpe on night one. That’s enough for me. Put him in the starting lineup and leave him there. He’s the player with the highest upside on the roster and after one game he showed nothing that would make you change your mind and plenty to ramp up your excitement. One game off the bench was enough. We’ve seen enough. Shaedon Sharpe is a starter. Question answers. Let’s move on to the more challenging queries this team is sure to pose.
Other Topics in Today’s Locked On Blazers Podcast:
- DeAndre Ayton’s performance in San Antonio
- A quietly strong game from Deni Avdija
- The challenges of managing the Blazers’ rotation
- The realities of good math and bad shooters
