After months and months without Blazer basketball, the Portland Trail Blazers returned to action Monday night in Seattle. Unfortunately, the Blazers dropped that game to the Clippers 102-97. The following night, Portland played their preseason home opener against Utah; they dropped that game as well 118-101. Although the Blazers are 0-2, it is important to not look at the preseason as life or death. Instead, we must look at these games as merely a test run. The preseason involves getting the entire bench minutes, so the final scores are not indicative of how teams will match up in the regular season. However, it is key to identify the positive and negative things from these games that could point to bigger successes or question marks when the season officially starts. With that being said, here are 3 takeaways from the first 96 minutes of Blazer basketball this year.
1. Anfernee Simons is going to be fine
Simons has not been particularly good these first few games. Against the Jazz, he scored 13 points on 4-13 from the floor and 3-8 from three. Against the Clippers, he scored 9 points on 2-12 FGs and 1-6 from three. He has been ice cold so far. However, Simons is too good of a shooter for this to be the new normal. Shooting in the NBA can be fickle and unpredictable outside of a few select players, so I am not worried about Simons at all. I also do not forsee a problem with him playing alongside Dame. Let's give Simons actual, regular season games before we start questioning his play. He will be alright.
2. Jerami Grant will be best wing Dame has ever played with
Alright, I'm making a hot take. Or maybe it isn't that hot. I don't know. Let me first say that I am excluding Lamarcus Aldridge from this. He was more of a back to the basket player who loved to post up. I don't see him as an athletic wing, so he is not in consideration. But man, Grant has looked really solid so far through two games. Against the Clippers, he poured in 14 on 4-8 FGs and 2-2 from downtown. Against Utah, he scored 13 on 5-10 FGs and 3-5 from three. If Grant plays like that in the regular season, it is fair to say he would be the best wing Portland has had in the Lillard era. Here are some Blazer wings off of the top of my head in the last decade: Mo Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, Nic Batum, Evan Turner, and Robert Covington. The only one who could give Grant a run would be Batum. However, Grant is going to be the 3rd or 4th option on this team, and if he can pour in 14 or 15 a game on efficient shooting combined with quality defense, he can easily be the best wing in the Dame era. Let's hope these two games are a sign of things to come for Grant.
3. Greg Brown III and Shaedon Sharpe Look Lost
Both Greg Brown III and Shaedon Sharpe have struggled to open the preseason. Both players look out of rhythm. It is a little concerning to see Brown struggle this much. He only played 7 minutes against Utah, but when he is on the floor, he stands out because of his freakish athletic build. He is 6'7" and can jump out of the gym. It is easy to notice his mistakes because he plays with such energy. However, outside of the occasional highlight dunk, he has really struggled with any form of consistency when on the floor his whole career. Hopefully he turns it around, but the clock is ticking on Greg Brown III in my opinion. On the other hand, I will give Sharpe a pass. He missed almost all of Summer League with a left shoulder injury, so he missed valuable reps and minutes. In addition, Sharpe decided to not play at Kentucky at all, so he has not played meaningful basketball games in a long time. Nevertheless, he has looked rough so far as well. It seems like he is pressing when he has the ball. Hopefully, as he plays more minutes, he can become more comfortable and let the game come to him.
The next game for Portland is Thursday, October 6th against Maccabi, a team from Israel. Hopefully, the Blazers do not pull a Suns and lose. If you know, you know. Reminder: the Blazers season-opener is Wednesday, October 19th @ the Kings. It's getting really close everyone. I can't wait. As always, go Blazers!
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