Portland Path Blazers heart Deandre Ayton poses for a photograph in the course of the NBA basketball workforce’s media day in Portland, Ore., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photograph/Craig Mitchelldyer)
PORTLAND, Oregon — The Portland Path Blazers didn’t make any huge strikes within the offseason, opting as an alternative to remain on target with a long-term rebuilding undertaking.
Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton and Anfernee Simons will kind the workforce’s nucleus as Portland continues to develop younger gamers, together with Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson.
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“I like the place we’re at with this roster, however I really like the place we’re headed,” GM Joe Cronin mentioned Monday in the course of the workforce’s media day.
READ: NBA: Deandre Ayton embracing contemporary begin with Path Blazers
The Blazers went 21-61 final season after buying and selling away All-Star Damian Lillard and did not make the playoffs for the third straight 12 months. They had been stung by accidents, with Simons, Sharpe and Henderson lacking a mixed 105 video games.
There’s little question the Blazers are a younger workforce. Grant, 30, is essentially the most skilled with 10 years within the NBA. Ayton and Simons have six years every within the league.
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Sharpe, 21, is embarking on his third 12 months, whereas the 20-year-old Henderson was a rookie final 12 months. Each struggled with accidents, which slowed their progress. Simons injured his thumb within the season opener and required surgical procedure.
Grant led Portland with a mean of 21 factors a recreation, whereas Ayton averaged 11.1 rebounds. Henderson led the workforce with 5.4 assists per recreation.
Portland made its largest transfer of the season on draft day, choosing Donovan Clingan with the seventh choose. They picked up ahead Deni Avdija in July in a commerce with the Washington Wizards.
Coach Chauncey Billups was clear that he understands the place the Blazers stand within the course of and that the payoff might not come this 12 months.
“I simply need our guys to be related, I need our guys to know one another, I need them to play for one another. We don’t have that go get a bucket iso man each single time. So we will’t afford to play that approach,” Billups mentioned. “We’ve bought to play quick. We’ve bought to maneuver the basketball. We’ve bought to assist one another on protection. We’ve bought to do all of the small issues to even be aggressive.”
READ: NBA: Damian Lillard cheered in return to Portland after commerce to Bucks
Billups mentioned Portland will deal with velocity. The Blazers tried to emphasise it final 12 months, however accidents thwarted these plans.
“We’ve been specializing in this 12 months, already simply with our pickup video games and letting them simply hoop. The most important factor I’ve been telling them is simply play quick, have enjoyable,” Billups mentioned.
Simons, who is among the most skilled gamers on the workforce despite the fact that he’s simply 25, was trying ahead to it.
“Will probably be enjoyable. Clearly, we now have a younger, younger workforce that’s very athletic and may do a number of various things. So I feel us enjoying quick performs to our benefit,” Simons mentioned.
The Blazers’ lone rookie on the roster is Clingan, who averaged 15.3 factors, 8.3 rebounds and three.2 blocks for the UConn Huskies within the NCAA Match however admitted that the NBA is an entire new ballgame. He’ll be tutored by Ayton, who mentioned Clingan makes use of his physique nicely for an enormous man.
“I’m a freshman once more,” the back-to-back NCAA champion mentioned. “I’m right here to be taught, I’m right here to get higher. I gotta put in my work each single day, I gotta present I belong at this degree.”
Honoring Walton
The Blazers will honor Corridor of Famer Invoice Walton with a tie-dye jersey band that features Walton’s No. 32 in white.
Named the NBA Finals MVP in 1977 when he led the Blazers to their solely league championship, Walton handed away in Could at 71.
READ: Invoice Walton, Corridor of Fame participant, dies of most cancers at 71
The workforce additionally introduced on Monday that Brightside Home windows, an area Portland firm, could be the jersey patch sponsor for each the Blazers and the Rip Metropolis Remix, the workforce’s G League affiliate.
TV deal
Final season Blazers’ video games had been on Root Sports activities, a regional community owned by the Seattle Mariners. However the relationship soured final season when the channel wasn’t accessible to Xfinity prospects with out a further charge.
The deal led to August and final week the Blazers introduced a brand new cope with Sinclair Broadcasting Group to point out video games over the air on Sinclair stations throughout Oregon and Washington.
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The Blazers are additionally introducing a direct-to-consumer streaming service referred to as BlazerVision.
