Tag: Portland Trail Blazers

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Dec. 9-15

One of them didn’t play at all this past week.

Former Notre Dame guard [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] had a couple of opportunities to prove himself with the San Antonio Spurs this past week. After not playing in a Dec. 8 win against the New Orleans Pelicans, he scored eight points and tied his season high with eight assists Dec. 13 to help beat the Portland Trail Blazers. Four points and five assists while losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 15 meant averaging 6.0 points and 6.5 assists for the week.

With the Milwaukee Bucks winning a couple of games to advance to the NBA Cup final, Doc Rivers opted to leave [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] on the bench the entire week. While it’s hard to tell what will happen when the Bucks battle the Oklahoma City Thunder for the title Dec. 17, this past week suggests Connaughton won’t play in that game either unless it’s a blowout and Rivers empties his bench. It’s tough to see Connaughton drop out of the Bucks’ rotation, but that’s the life of an NBA player, especially as one gets older.

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Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: Nov. 4-10

How did the two former Irish players do this past week?

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] didn’t play in the San Antonio Spurs’ first game this past week. He more than made up for that though with his best game of this young season Nov. 7.

In a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley made all four field-goal attempts and both free throws he attempted for 10 points, his first double-digit scoring game of the season. He also dished out a game-high eight assists. Those aided a week in which he averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 assists a game.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had his best game so far this season in the Milwaukee Bucks’ Nov. 4 loss to the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds, had five assists and recorded his first two steals of the season. That allowed him to average 4.8 points and 2.5 assists a game for the week.

Here are photos of Notre Dame’s two NBA representatives in action over the past week:

Cooper Flagg must join the NBA’s Eastern Conference to balance out the league

The NBA NEEDS Cooper Flagg in the Eastern Conference.

With all due respect to fans of woeful NBA teams like the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers, it’s time we have a frank conversation. And I apologize for how it will exclude your totally valid (but, to me, ultimately tertiary) needs as diehard supporters of your respective favorite teams.

The NBA’s latest truly generational draft prospect, Duke’s Cooper Flagg, must play in the Eastern Conference when he likely jumps to the league in the summer of 2025. Full stop.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, either.

If we want to have a truly healthy and balanced NBA, throwing another potential franchise superstar like Flagg into an already-stacked West is a dire scenario for the league. The sheer talent disparity between the two conferences — the West has had more All-NBA players every season for 26 straight years — is already way too glaring.

The East’s embarrassingly slow start to the 2024-2025 season only confirms as much. It’s still a small sample size (less than 10 games into the year at the time of this writing), but here are some eye-opening early numbers to keep in mind if you’re one of those people who’d like to see Flagg play somewhere West of the Rocky Mountains:

  • Only two East teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, currently have a winning record. That’s right. Quite literally, everyone else outside of Cleveland and Boston in the East is straddling the line at .500 or lower. Yikes.
  • Eight of the NBA’s 10 best records so far belong to Western Conference teams. Eight. EIGHT.
  • The West, itself, is winning over 70 percent of its games head-to-head with the East so far. That’s roughly a 57-win pace over an 82-game season, by the way. A real ho-hum kind of dominance.
  • The East, itself, is also being heavily dragged down by the struggling Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, who were supposed to be bellwethers as conference heavyweights. From injuries and age to good old-fashioned bad luck, these two teams are instead mired at the bottom of the standings. Tough scene.

I know it’s tempting to say we’ll appreciate someone with Flagg’s unique all-around abilities wherever he plays. Which, sure. That’s part of the deal we make as sports fans. Sometimes, it’s just about sitting back and appreciating the show talented athletes can put on.

You take what you can get. I understand.

Still, this massive disparity between the NBA’s East and West simply cannot continue. Flagg and the San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama are/were considered two of the best draft prospects in the league in years. For both of them to play on Western teams in a conference where, for example, a 50-win team was the fifth seed last season (a 50-win team was the No. 2 seed in the East) would be an unmitigated disaster for competitive balance.

Western teams already tear each other apart all year. Meanwhile, the 2-3 squads fighting at the top of the East get to be on cruise control as they please. A possible superstar like Flagg going West would just make it even worse. It’s not tenable or sustainable for players or fans of Western teams. (The conference really needs more “nights off,” if you know what I mean!)

The East needs an injection of potential all-time youth and talent. Badly.

So, this is my message to fans of fledgling squads like the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors. I’m really rooting for you.

Go capture that Flagg.

The NBA’s interconference competitive balance might depend on it.

2024-25 Portland Trail Blazers: A quick preview

After trading Damian Lillard, Portland committed to a youth movement, but their roster construction still doesn’t make complete sense. Despite adding promising young players like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan, the Blazers …

After trading Damian Lillard, Portland committed to a youth movement, but their roster construction still doesn’t make complete sense. Despite adding promising young players like Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan, the Blazers continue to carry significant salary commitments, which could hinder their flexibility to fully embrace a rebuild. Their recent acquisition of Deni Avdija shows they are still looking to improve the roster, but the mixed approach leaves some uncertainty.

Ultimately, Portland’s future will likely hinge on whether they can fully commit to building around their young core. Moving on from higher-paid veterans and embracing the development of Henderson, Sharpe, and Clingan would allow them to align their roster with their long-term goals.

Bill Walton will have a perfect tie-dyed tribute on the Trail Blazers uniforms during 2024-25 season

The Trail Blazers did a great job capturing his personality with this tribute.

The Portland Trail Blazers will honor the late Bill Walton on their uniforms during the upcoming 2024-24 NBA campaign.

Walton, who died at 71, was drafted by the Trail Blazers with the No. 1 pick in the 1974 NBA Draft. He won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player when the Trail Blazers won the championship in 1977 and then won NBA MVP in 1978.

Widely considered one of the best players to ever suit up for the team, he is also one of the most recognizable for his aesthetic sensibility. Known for his love for the Grateful Dead and often adorned in tie-dye due, Walton once For The Win that his favorite color was rainbow.

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Portland Trail Blazers

BILL WALTON: The NBA honored a legend with tie-dyed warmups ahead of the 2024 NBA Finals

A colorful tribute to Walton was obvious and Portland will have a multi-colored band celebrate his life and accomplishments on and off the court.

While the organization will wear the tribute band on their uniforms during the entire season, Portland is specifically encouraging fans to wear tie-dye and a headband against the Pistons on March 9.

Walton, who also typically wore a headband when he played, had a unique look that matched his personality and the Trail Blazers did a fantastic job at capturing exactly that.

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Should the Nets consider trading for Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons?

Should the Brooklyn Nets consider trading for Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons if the team is intent on trading him soon?

The Brooklyn Nets have finally decided that they are going to enter a rebuild with the hopes of drafting their next superstar in the next few years. While Brooklyn is hoping to find their own star players through the draft and develop them, it doesn’t mean that they can’t look for players on other teams.

During his appearance on “The Drive Guys” show with Kevin Gleason and Kyle Draper of Sactown Sports 1140, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian said that the goal for the Portland Trail Blazers is trading guard Anfernee Simons or forward Jerami Grant. With the Trail Blazers having both Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe within the guard rotation, it makes sense that Portland could be looking to move on from Simons.

“I would be surprised if one of the two is not moved. I was told that’s definitely the goal that one of the two would probably be gone before training camp,” Fentress said. If what Fentress was told checks out, that could mean that Simons could be had for a reasonable price, although he is one of the more promising young guards in the NBA.

For the Nets, their current guard rotation looks to be Dennis Schroder and Ben Simmons at point guard with players like Cam Thomas and Keon Johnson likely to fill the shooting guard roles. With Schroder and Simmons heading into the last year of their respective contracts, it would be smart of Brooklyn to plan for their future at the guard position to pair with Thomas.

Simons, 25, is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 22.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 43.0% from the field and 38.5% from three-point range. However, Simons played in just 46 games last season as he missed over a month of action to begin the season due to thumb surgery.

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Rockets’ Reed Sheppard selected to win Rookie of the Year by executives in ESPN poll

Rockets guard Reed Sheppard was voted the top choice to win Rookie of the Year by executives and scouts in a poll conducted by ESPN.

Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard was voted the top choice to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award by a panel of executives and scouts in a poll conducted by ESPN.

The 20 individuals polled were asked a number of questions about the incoming rookie class, such as the best player and the biggest steal of the draft. They were also asked about the draft expanding to a two-day format, which received a positive reaction.

Sheppard received seven votes from the panel, while Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey garnered four votes and San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle had three votes.

Who’s your NBA Rookie of the Year pick?

  1. Reed Sheppard, Rockets: 7 votes
  2. Zach Edey, Grizzlies: 4
  3. Stephon Castle, Spurs: 3
  4. Donovan Clingan, Trail Blazers: 2
  5. Zaccharie Risacher, Hawks: 1
  6. Ron Holland II, Pistons: 1
  7. Dalton Knecht, Lakers: 1
  8. Tristan da Silva, Orlando Magic: 1

Sheppard debuted with the Rockets in the NBA Summer League, averaging 20 points, 5.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.3 blocked shots on 50% shooting from the field in four games. He was named to the NBA All-Summer League first team and finished ninth in scoring.

The third pick is second in odds to win Rookie of the Year, narrowly trailing only Risacher. He looked to be one of the top rookies on the court in the desert and proved himself as a high draft pick in a small sample size with the Rockets.

The odds will certainly continue to fluctuate over the course of the upcoming season, which tips off on Oct. 25. However, Sheppard and the rest of the players on the list established themselves as the top players thus far and should be in store for strong rookie campaigns.

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Buha: Portland doesn’t want D’Angelo Russell in potential Jerami Grant trade

It won’t be easy for the Lakers to land forward Jerami Grant from the Trail Blazers.

Although the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t made any moves this summer other than to sign their two draft picks, there is still time for them to do something to upgrade their roster.

There do have a few rumored trade targets, including Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant. Grant averaged 21.0 points a game this past season and has become a very good 3-point shooter, not to mention a very capable defender.

Right now, the one big trade chip the Lakers have in the form of a player is starting point guard D’Angelo Russell. Russell recently opted into the final year of his contract, and the team reportedly has been looking to trade him.

But Jovan Buha of The Athletic said in a recent episode of “Buha’s Block” that the Blazers aren’t interested in taking back Russell in a potential trade that would send Grant to Los Angeles (h/t Lakers Daily).

“I’ve heard Portland doesn’t want D-Lo because they have a million guards anyway,” Buha said. “So, it just doesn’t really make sense for them.”

Acquiring Grant would likely be very expensive for L.A., especially in terms of the draft picks such a deal would require. But that is the state of the current NBA, where good players who have never been All-Stars, such as Mikal Bridges, have recently been traded for lots of draft capital.

Buha: The Blazers want two first-round draft picks for Jerami Grant

If the Lakers want to land Jerami Grant from the Trail Blazers, they may have to give up an arm and a leg.

Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant has been mentioned as a potential trade target of the Los Angeles Lakers for some time now. A 6-foot-7 forward, Grant is effective and versatile on the defensive end, and he has also become a legitimate scoring threat on the other end.

He averaged 21.0 points a game while hitting 40.2% of his 3-point attempts this past season. If he would accept a somewhat reduced role as a third or even a fourth option in Los Angeles, perhaps he could play a major factor in getting the team back to championship contention.

However, the price may not be right as far as the Lakers are concerned. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Portland wants two first-round draft picks for Grant.

The Lakers have a limited amount of draft capital available for use in a trade. When one considers they have other roster deficiencies besides a two-way wing, perhaps giving up two future first-rounders for Grant, a player who has never been named to the All-Star team, may not be the best idea.

Donovan Clingan blocks five shots in first half in Summer League loss

Former UConn center Donovan Clingan is a shot blocking machine so far with Portland in the NBA Summer League.

Heading into Friday’s contest, former UConn star Donovan Clingan was averaging 4.3 blocks per game – the highest average in Summer League history.

‘Cling Kong’ wasted no time increasing that number, blocking five shots in the first half of Portland’s loss to Charlotte – once again looking like a dominant enforcer around the rim.

Clingan finally had an offensive breakout as well, scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in his finest all-around performance as a pro.

The 7’2 big man from UConn also displayed an outside shot, knocking down a pair of threes on seven attempts as he works to add that versatility to his game ahead of his first NBA season.

Clingan was the seventh player selected in the 2024 NBA draft, and he heads to a Portland franchise that has an established starting center in DeAndre Ayton and a young, high-upside core of guards in Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Anfernee Simons.

While Zach Edey drew most of the headlines for his excellent first Summer League game a few weeks ago, Clingan already looks like an All-Defensive caliber rim protector – and while his shooting percentages leave quite a bit to be desired, the way he moves without the basketball, his passing and screen setting skills, and developing outside shot give him sky-high potential.

Developing behind Ayton and growing with this young core in Rip City could be the perfect scenario for the native of Bristol, who has a very good chance of becoming the best NBA player in this draft class.