Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe, who has been shelved all season with a labral tear in his left shoulder, has had his status upgraded to questionable prior to Portland’s Thursday matchup against the Spurs, reports Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Twitter link).
The intriguing third-year swingman could make his season debut in San Antonio.
At 3-5, the Trail Blazers have managed to be a bit more chippy and competitive without Sharpe than fans or pundits initially anticipated.
Head coach Chauncey Billups has opted to start reserve wing Toumani Camara at small forward, while shifting nominal starting three Deni Avdija to Sharpe’s shooting guard spot.
Camara’s emergence as a two-way weapon has been a positive development in Portland. He was selected with the No. 52 pick in the 2023 draft, but even as a rookie began to assert himself defensively. This year, he’s been demonstrating an impressive shooting touch. Across his eight games as a starter thus far, the 6’8″ second-year pro is averaging 9.8 points on .460/.481/.636 shooting splits, along with 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per night.
Sharpe, a lottery pick in 2022, averaged an impressive 15.9 PPG while slashing .406/.333/.824 in his 32 healthy games last season. He also notched 5.0 RPG, 2.9 APG and 0.9 SPG. He seems destined to take over the starting two-guard slot for the Trail Blazers whenever he does return, but it remains to be seen whether Avdija or Camara will be Billups’ long-term solution at small forward.
Avdija has had a rough time scoring this year, but all the good habits are still there. Shots just aren’t falling yet. And the defense has been great, which was always where he was at his best.
Good point. That’s why the Blazers probably traded him. The current team is focusing on size and defense.
Yep. Dalano Banton (the birthday boy), Sharpe, Camara, Avdija, Rupert, Murray, Walker, Avdija, and of course Clingan. Scoot might be the x-factor of the rebuild, but the Blazers have a clear plan. Even Scoot is bigger than the average PG.