The 2024-25 Portland Trail Blazers’ Season Preview
August 28th, 2024
by Alan Lu
Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers traded away Damian Lillard just before the start of the season, and they were expected to be amongst the worst teams in the league, and they went 21-61 during the regular season. They haven’t made the playoffs with Chauncey Billups as the coach, even when they had Damian Lillard around, and even more worrisome was the startling lack of efficiency and poor rookie season play from the tremendously athletic starting point guard, Scoot Henderson, and while he was able to put up some counting numbers, especially towards the end of the year, he did not shoot the ball well at all, and he was completely left off both of the All-Rookie teams in 2024. This season, the Blazers will hope that their players can make considerable gains moving forward, and Henderson will be entering his second season in the NBA.
Anfernee Simons had an injury-plagued 2023-24 season in which he played only 46 games, but he led the team in points per game and assists per game, as he averaged 22.6 points and 5.5 assists per game, and made 38.5% of his threes last season. (Photo: Soobum Im/USA Today Sports, via Yardbarker)
This time around, the Blazers added Deni Avdija to provide support for their team, and expect Avdija to add strong defense, versatility, and efficient shooting to their team. In addition, Donovan Clingan was selected in the draft, and he will strengthen their team’s interior play. While the Blazers still aren’t expected to make the playoffs in the very competitive Western Conference, they have some talented young players as their fans will be excited to see their growth for the upcoming season.
Star Players:
None
The Blazers do not have a star player for the upcoming season, but they do have some solid players on their team that may be pretty close, which include Anfernee Simons, Deandre Ayton, Jerami Grant, and Deni Avdija, and they also have some talented young players in the mix. If Scoot Henderson can show a credible jump shot and significantly improve his offensive efficiency, then Scoot could develop into a rising star in the future. Shaedon Sharpe had an injury-plagued 2023-24 season, but he had a solid rookie season, and he’s a very athletic swingman that also may have star potential.
Additions:
F Deni Avdija, C Donovan Clingan
They traded away Malcolm Brogdon and the fourteenth overall pick to land Deni Avdija in a trade, and they get a solid role player that plays unselfishly, can provide positional versatility, and plays very solid defense and gives great effort on a nightly basis. Avdija has turned himself into an efficient shotmaker and doesn’t need a whole lot of touches on offense, and he’s shown significant improvement as a shooter recently. Donovan Clingan was terrific in college basketball last year, and he was an elite rim protector that provided strong shot blocking and defense for UConn to help them win the National Championship. While Brogdon’s loss will be felt, Avdija and Clingan are certainly welcome additions that will help the Blazers both this season and in the future.
Subtractions:
Brogdon is a smart, steady offensively sound combo guard that has excelled as a shotmaker, scorer, and facilitator for many years when healthy, and he was the Sixth Man of the Year for the Boston Celtics in 2023. He’s provided a solid, steady veteran presence, and his presence will be missed, and while the Blazers traded him and the fourteenth overall pick away, getting Avdija back in return seems like a solid coup for their team that could help them both this season and in the future.
Rookies:
He is a very tall, physical center that is a tremendous shot blocker and will provide rim protection. He isn’t the most offensively skilled player, but he is a smart big man and a proven winner that will help shore up Portland’s interior.
Expected Rotation:
Projected Starting Lineup:
Deandre Ayton averaged 16.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game and made 57% from the field on last season’s 21-61 Blazers’ team. (Photo: Troy Wayrynen/USA Today Sports, via Yardbarker)
Key Bench Players:
After having a very good rookie season, Shaedon Sharpe had an injury-plagued sophomore season, but he’s back to provide the Portland fans with some excitement and hopefully a solid third season in the NBA. (Photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images, via 750 The Game)
The Blazers will have a very young bench, but they have quite a few promising players on their squad. Sharpe is a very athletic swingman that showed a solid jump shot before getting hurt last year, and could develop into a solid defender. Robert Williams is a very sound defensive big man, but is injury-prone and has struggled to stay on the floor. Matisse Thybulle is a very good defensive wing, but will need to improve his offense. Jabari Walker is an athletic combo forward whose scoring and defensive skills could allow him to be a regular rotation player this year.
G-F Shaedon Sharpe
F-C Robert Williams
G-F Matisse Thybulle
The Rest of the Roster:
G-F Rayan Rupert
Others in Camp:
G Devonte Graham (Exhibit 10)
Team Options at the End of the 2025 Season:
Here I will project the likelihood of the Blazers to pick up and accept or decline the team options for various players at the end of the 2025 season.
Shaedon Sharpe – Team Option Will Likely Be Accepted (100% Certainty)
Scoot Henderson – Team Option Will Likely Be Accepted (100% Certainty)
Rayan Rupert – 50/50, Could Go Either Way, Leaning Towards Projecting That It Will Be Declined (50% Certainty)
Kris Murray – 50/50, Could Go Either Way, Leaning Towards Projecting That It Will Be Declined (50% Certainty)
Head Coach:
After having missed both the Play-In Tournament and the playoffs in his first two seasons coaching Dame Time and going 60-104 in coaching Lillard, the Blazers went 21-61 last season and had a relatively underwhelming rookie season from Scoot Henderson, though the Blazers have a built-in excuse this time for not winning much last season, because they did not have Damian Lillard for the 2023-24 season.
(Photo: Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports, via Yardbarker)
Chauncey Billups
2022-23: 21-61, missed the playoffs
Career: 81-165, 0-0 in the NBA Playoffs
Even though Billups has been an accomplished player when he was in the NBA, he hasn’t had a great track record in his three seasons as the Blazers’ head coach. Despite having the opportunity to coach one of the game’s best active players in the league in Damian Lillard, the Blazers have not made the playoffs or even reached the play-in tournament under head coach Chauncey Billups. And last season, they managed to fall below even tepid expectations as they won less games than expected, and Scoot Henderson struggled as he was nowhere near as efficient as he was expected to be as a rookie.
The Portland Trail Blazers have consistently finished at or near the bottom of the standings in his tenure, and with the current make up of the roster, it’s not likely that the Blazers will come anywhere close to making the playoffs this season.
NBA Head Coach Rank: 30
Outlook:
After a bumpy rookie season in which he missed out on either of the All-Rookie teams, Blazers’ second-year point guard Scoot Henderson will look to make considerable gains for the upcoming season.
(Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images, via OregonLive)
With Damian Lillard no longer on the team, The Portland Trail Blazers are firmly in rebuilding mode, and this will be Year 2 of the Scoot Henderson era. The Blazers will need to find a way to show that they’ve been making progress, and it needs to start by showing that they can develop Scoot Henderson to be a more steady and efficient player this season. After Scoot missed out on either of the All-Rookie teams, hopefully he can develop a more reliable jump shot and show marked improvement to prove that he can be an effective starting point guard on a nightly basis.
As for the time being, they will likely be one of the worst teams in the league, and look to be firmly headed for the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, which could turn out very well for them, as Flagg may be an elite talent that could be a franchise player for them in the future. As for this season, the important thing is to help their young players to continue to grow and develop, and if the Blazers aren’t going to get many wins this year, then they will need to show that they can develop their players to build for the future.
Projected 2024-25 Finish:
Expected Win-Loss Record: 25-57
Projected Regular Season Finish: 15th in the Western Conference
Expected Playoff Finish: Projected to miss the playoffs
Preseason NBA Power Ranking: 29
I went to Basketball-Reference and SalarySwish to look up some information for this write-up. It will be an exciting basketball season this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing the in-season tournament to see how that will unfold. Anyways, that is my write-up on my preview of the 2024-25 Portland Trail Blazers. Thanks for reading.