Shaedon Sharpe required more in-depth scouting than the other top prospects in Thursday’s draft, but the Trail Blazers are comfortable that they made the right decision, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Because Sharpe never played after enrolling at Kentucky, general manager Joe Cronin sought game film of him in international competitions and anything else he could find. Cronin was sold on Sharpe after bringing him to Portland for a 3-on-3 workout.
“Shaedon is an incredible talent,” Cronin said. “We’re really excited about his future. It was a unique situation with Shaedon where he didn’t play college basketball. So he wasn’t seen or evaluated nearly as much as a lot of these other guys. But we were lucky enough to have we had a pretty good foundation built on Shaedon through our past viewings, specifically some of the new people we hired who had seen him a little bit.”
Cronin was referring to new assistant GM Mike Schmitz, who was very familiar with Sharpe from his former role as an ESPN draft analyst. Sharpe fills a need for the Blazers, who were in the market for an athletic wing that can score, and the 19-year-old offered Portland fans a preview of what they can expect.
“I’m a dude that likes to attack the rim, draw some fouls, finish above the rim, also get my teammates involved and really just shooting the 3,” he said. “Just impacting the game.”
There’s more from Portland:
- The Blazers were torn between Sharpe and G League guard Dyson Daniels with the No. 7 pick, and Damian Lillard appears to have influenced the final decision, writes Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated. Lillard was impressed by Sharpe during his two visits to Portland, and the front office made numerous calls to Kentucky staffers to check on his background.
- Lillard caused a stir on social media today when he posted a photoshopped image on Instagram of himself and Kevin Durant both wearing Trail Blazers uniforms. Rumors that Durant may be on the move have been flying since reports of a contract impasse between the Nets and Kyrie Irving.
- While the Blazers appear to be improved following the draft and this week’s trade for Jerami Grant, Cronin understands that more needs to be done to become a contender again, per Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Portland figures to have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, along with a bi-annual exception worth about $4MM, two small trade exceptions and tradeable salaries in Eric Bledsoe, Josh Hart and Justise Winslow. “What’s next is keep on the path,” Cronin said. “We’re trying to be really aggressive. We know we’re not good enough. We want to keep trying to get better. So, it’s continuing to address these needs. The draft is a big trade day, but it’s not the end-all as far as trades go.”
Seeing as nurkic and simons are free agents with the option to not sign to be traded to a nets team likely without kyrie and Durant ( it would also hard cap nets to take one or both of them ) there’s no chance the blazers present the best offer for four years of Durant unless Durant says it’s blazers or I quit the nba ! In the trades of cj and Powell they didn’t actually get any extra assets to send for another star ! It was pure salary dumps of which they used the space to take on grant
Not to undersell Josh hart who’s a good player but he would be like the third or fourth piece in a trade for a real star ! Hart little the Bledsoe contract and all the picks blazers can trade is just not a very good offer at all !
Simons would have to be included as a S&T especially if they lose Kyrie. Sharpe could be included along with Greg Brown/Keon Johnson along with alot of picks. Could possibly get a 3rd team involved. It’s possible but still unlikely.
Simons would have to agree to it and nets would have to accept being hard capped ! Maybe that’s not a problem if they are losing kyrie and Durant but still need Simons to agree to it and it’s still a light package
Seriously how would Durant end up in Portland? Not even possible money wise.
Grant and Bledsoe going the other way works.
Grant can’t be combined In a second trade for 6 months assuming the pistons Portland trade is official
Plus that deal sucks for the nets ! They have Durant under contract long enough to shop him to numerous teams assuming it even gets to that! Durant isn’t gonna say no to Memphis or New Orleans or Miami’ or Dallas or Phoenix
I don’t (and never have) seen Lillard as a generational player. He’s very good but he can’t be the best player on a contending team. He’s a second option at best and as long as Portland continues to deny the truth, they will continue to be a middling organization.
I think Sharpe is very talented. But only Bron came in ready to play to win at 19. Bron is probably smartest player ever. Sharpe even if he hits his peak. It won’t be for yrs. He can’t help Dillard now. So it’s either trade him for help now. Or use him off the bench. Hope he can be a rotational player.
Sharpe for Durant ????
lol Luka doesnt exist? he got farther than lebron in a younger age at a harder conference too
So when is Dame getting fined?
I am not going to drink the Portland kool aid again. Team is once again making high profile moves to keep Lillard happy while not making the team any better! Lillard, Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Nurkic, Shaedon Sharpe??? Drafted based on a 3 on 3 workout??? Yikes! Guess What?? Portland still cannot play any defense whatsoever! No defense = No wins in playoffs, if they even get there.
Sharpe reminded me of Paul George and Jalen Green in some ways, but I also saw some Gerald Green. I like the pick for them. I think they can add a guard that can defend and play next to Lillard and/or Simons, or they can simply keep Bledsoe and Winslow, even though they added Grant. They also still have Keon Johnson, Nassir Little, and Greg Brown (there is redundancies there with Grant, Winslow, Little, and Brown) who could be useful, and even though he is a FA, Kris Dunn being healthy could work there too. I definitely wouldnt move Hart unless it’s in a deal for something significant. I think they could use a floor spacer at the 5, which there are a few in FA, and/or probably someone else that can knock down shots on the wing.
They have some depth to work with now, so curious to see what they’ll do. Obviously they need to stay healthy b/c that has been an issue for them
One must wonder how useless BRK front office is, I mean the Kyrie situation couldn’t be any easier to deal with, right?
Just give the dude whatever he wants & throw on top of it the keys for the farm… just do whatever it takes to keep KD happy, as simple as!
It would take Sharpe, Hart, Zach collins, a big sign and trade deal that Simons would be ok with, and a few picks on top of that for the nets to take that seriously. Can’t trade grant they just got him can’t use nurkic he’s UFA. They would have to prey that the nets like shadeon Sharpe alot and also prey that the nets and simons would have mutual interest and sign a contract to flip him to Brooklyn.Long shot but not totally impossible
Zach collins isnt there anymore
I think the best *market based* KD deal is New Orleans for Zion + 2-3 future 1sts. Even if Zion can get 5 healthy seasons and then succumbs to the Dorito that’s a great deal for BK—bc when Zion is healthy he’s a 1st team All NBA talent.
For NO, adding Durant to Ingram, Herb, CJM, and Jonas gives as good of chance as anyone to win it.
Having said that if Durant requests out it’s probably going to be a “send me here” situation, so almost any team ostensibly could get him. My Knicks could get him w/ Randle-Fourn-Burks + 4 future 1sts.
Is that the best deal BK could get? Absolutely not. But if Durant says “Send me to MSG” then…
lol Zion traded would be the dumbest thing. a healthy Zion gives Blazers a tough front court matchup for teams with Jonas/Zion and Ingram/CJ. Durant is 34 and injured
Scotty and Siakam for Durant
Personally I’d love to see Dame and KD together. I can’t see it happening. Nets biggest issue is Kyrie. KD knows now you can’t count on him. KD is about NBA legacy and historical game. Kyrie is a head case all about Kyrie. Problem is who will take Kyrie.
I’m Nets I do all I can to sign him to a fair contract. And have a trade partner waiting. Then move him. They will not win with Kyrie on one yr contract. Cause he won’t play.
I just want to REMIND all the NYK haters and MEDIA. Why you never sign this head case. Kyrie never passed on Knicks. We wanted no part of him. True ball fans have always known who Kyrie was when he left Cavs. A selfish child who wants attention not RINGS.