Why Blazers’ Biggest Offseason Moves Could Be Bad News for Young Backcourt

The Portland Trail Blazers' intended young backcourt of the future may not have much of a future in Portland, after all.

Recent Trail Blazers lottery picks Shaedon Sharpe, the No. 7 pick in 2022, and Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 selection the next year, were expected to usher in a new era of Portland guard excellence. Fans had been starved since the halcyon days of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Instead of totally empowering Sharpe and Henderson this offseason, however, the Trail Blazers... re-signed Lillard and traded for another 35-year-old former All-Star guard and Olympian, Jrue Holiday.

Granted, Lillard is still recovering from an Achilles tendon tear suffered during the first round of the playoffs, when his Milwaukee Bucks were roundly defeated by the Indiana Pacers in five games.

The nine-time All-Star is unlikely to return to the hardwood until 2026-27.

In Holiday, however, Sharpe and Henderson will be competing for minutes against a two-time champion and six-time All-Defensive Teamer, one of the most venerated vets in the league.

What is recently-extended Portland general manager Joe Cronin's long-term plan with his backcourt, exactly?

Why bring in not one but two aging guards (one of whom, Holiday, is still very expensive and thus tough to trade)? The cover story when this happens is always a suggestion by the front office that the fresh addition will help "lead" his young charges, navigating them to a higher performance plane.

But the reality is often very different, especially with two players as accomplished as Holiday and Lillard. A lot of times, these older players are reticent to cede much ground at all to their supposed positional successors, and will eagerly compete against them for minutes and touches. Veteran players rarely transition into being effective "coaches on the floor."

Chris Paul numbers among the few modern stars who's generally been able to do that while still contributing to winning basketball on the court, but typically it's accomplished role players like Udonis Haslem, Taj Gibson, James Johnson or even Brian Scalabrine who stay rostered long after their usefulness as players may have expired.

Holiday and Lillard have a lot more left to give as players than Haslem, Gibson, Johnson or Scalabrine did during their soft "player-coach" reboots, but it remains to be seen how willing they'll be to coach up Sharpe and Henderson.

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