Shaedon Sharpe’s injury has done more than just sideline one of Portland’s most explosive young players for roughly six months. It has also sharpened the question of where he fits in Micah Nori’s version of the Trail Blazers.
Sharpe suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee, a brutal break for a 23-year-old who had improved every season and looked ready to take another step. But the absence also changes the way Portland can sort through its crowded backcourt, at least for now.
That was part of the conversation at Media Day on Monday, when Nori was asked how he plans to fit the guards and Deni Avdija together on offense. The first-year head coach made clear that Sharpe’s injury has altered the equation.
"I think it changed quite a bit when Shaedon got hurt," Nori said. "And what I mean by that is, the narrative was that we just had so many smalls.
Now all of a sudden, when you lose one, then that changes drastically… You're getting guys who are good decision-makers that are willing passers. So we're not bringing in Ja, who's looking to shoot it 22 to 23 times a game.
When you look at it like that, when you bring in someone like that, then it's difficult… It's all about decision makers. The league is going, in my opinion, a lot smaller now, positionless and all that type of thing.
So just really good basketball players who are willing to make plays for others and good decision makers. So I think that it's a good problem to have."
That emphasis on decision-makers and willing passers doesn’t exactly scream Shaedon Sharpe. It also helps explain why his role was already a topic before the injury even entered the picture.
At full strength, Portland had too many guards and not enough minutes to go around. Sharpe’s absence takes some of that pressure off, and it may do more than that. The Blazers may not miss him as much on offense as they once would have, because Nori’s vision leans toward movement, ball-sharing, and keeping the offense flowing rather than leaning heavily on a score-first isolation player.
Sharpe has been a valuable shot creator for Portland, the kind of player who could bail out possessions when the offense bogged down. But under Nori, with the new group of guards and the emphasis on making quick decisions, that kind of role may not be central to the plan anyway.
The talent is obvious, and Sharpe still ranks among the most gifted players on a roster that suddenly has plenty of it, especially in the backcourt. Even so, the extension aside, it was already fair to wonder how cleanly he fit into this new setup. Now that he’ll be out for about six months, he becomes the odd man out by default.
By the time he returns, Portland’s offensive hierarchy may already be set. That could make it harder for Sharpe to work his way back into the center of things, especially given his ball-dominant, score-first style.
Nori spent Media Day talking up Deni Avdija’s added shooting, the defensive help around Damian Lillard and Ja Morant, and the number of ball handlers who should make the Blazers effective in transition. Sharpe’s athleticism still matters in the open floor, but he doesn’t bring the spacing or defense that several of those other pieces on the roster do.
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