This season, the Blazers bench is the lowest scorer – by far – in the entire NBA. Last night once morest the Cavaliers, this trend was confirmed once more, and once more cost the Oregon franchise dearly.
“Imagine you score 50 points but your bench is so broken that you lose. Nah I’m kidding. But imagine anyway.”
This is the kind of joke that should not amuse Damian Lillard too much. Despite the 50 points scored Thursday by the boss of the Blazers, Chauncey Billups players lost at home to Cleveland, a fifth straight loss that puts them in 11th place in the West. And the low contribution of substitutes – only 9 small points scored off the bench last night by Portland, once morest 21 for their opponent – is no stranger to this setback.
The Oregon franchise owns this season the least productive bench in the NBA. Portland substitutes only score 23.8 points per game in 2022-23which already places them a good distance from the 27.5 points of the second unit of the Miami Heat, penultimate in the matter. Certainly it’s not just the points that count, but it still stings. For comparison, the most prolific benches in this classification dominated by the Spurs – yes they are very first somewhere – exceed 40 units on average.
While Lillard moves mountains to carry his team, while the other members of the five major (Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic) achieve – each in their register – a more or less solid season, the point of improvement is all found on the Portland side. The top scorer on the Blazers’ bench to date is rookie Shaedon Sharpe… with just 7.5 points on average. Enough to give GM Joe Cronin a job as the trade deadline approaches.
???? Several executives would closely watch Joe Cronin, who might be aggressive at the trade deadline.
The architect of the Blazers had been very active last year, and his desire to surround Damian Lillard as best as possible remains at the top of his priorities.
See you this summer? pic.twitter.com/QM7NaAbJSI
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) January 10, 2023
To date, there is no real rumor of a concrete interest from the Blazers board for a name likely to solve the ills of the team. However, it is not the names that are missing: veterans like Eric Gordon ou Bojan Bogdanovic who vegetate in the slums of the League this season are just waiting to come and strengthen an ambitious franchise. But to get that kind of player, you’ll have to let go of a serious counterpart, potentially a first-round draft pick.
Can the solution therefore come from within? Shaedon Sharpe shows great things, and we can reasonably give him a high ceiling. But as Lillard turns 33 this year, can the Blazers afford to bank on the long-term development of a young prospect to win? It should also be remembered that the simultaneous injuries of several rotation players (Nassir Little, Justise Winslow, Gary Payton II) are not likely to leave Chauncey Billups much choice. Who has not demonstrated either, unlike several of his counterparts, a real aptitude for the politics of the next man upand seems to have trouble trusting young people like Jabari Walker, Greg Brown III or Keon Johnson.
Offensive production from the bench is a problem that plagues Portland. So we have to act now because many teams are in the race for the Playoffs in the West, and every detail will be important to be competitive.
Source texte : Statmuse
