Notice Blazers Pick Shaedon Sharpe With #7 Pick

Ding ding ding, wish I could like this more. If Ant/Sharpe somehow end up wining/competing for a championship for Portland, instead of Dame, is that the end of the world? Not for me. This is more of a what if scenario and maybe something that happens in an alternate universe or something. I just hope we all get to live in that universe and experience it.

 

That alley oop halfway through the third really woke up the team and Sharpe haha

Edit: I've seen him miss three shots so far so can't be 8-10.

 

he was 16 yrs old during this tournament.

That is insane.

 

I don't think you've watched the video on Sharpe. He was spectacular in high school. He was the number one recruit in his class until he reclassified.

You're putting yourself through a lot over something you should be excited about.

 

The Grant trade is pretty low risk. We only gave up the Bucks pick, some second rounders and the TPE. Grant isn't even that old so to me, it's a pretty low risk move and as long as we don't horribly overpay him, he should have value if we decide to blow it up in a year or two.

 

Haha. Let’s hope so. I just expected a known quantity.

 

we're gonna have to make a decision on Grant next summer or risk him walking for nothing.

 

I bet it happens sooner than that. When is he eligible for an extension?

 

Blazers went with home-run swing
From studying the shape of this year’s draft, the other fascinating spot within the top 10 was the Trail Blazers’ pick at No. 7, which wound up being Shaedon Sharpe. Based on the chatter, it felt to me like Portland had mostly cooled on potential trade scenarios in recent days and was believed by rival teams to be deciding between Sharpe and Dyson Daniels. The Blazers were known to be high on both players, and there was dissent within their braintrust as to which was the better option, with Sharpe a massive home-run swing and Daniels a plug-and-play utility guard with upside.

Sharpe didn’t play at all at Kentucky, and most decision-makers had never seen him play live. Teams were evaluating primarily off of in-person contact, background intel and tape from the Nike EYBL, where I saw him play last summer at Peach Jam. Sharpe’s camp was willing to put him in group workouts and showcase his competitive mettle against other lottery-level prospects, from which very mixed feedback circulated around the league, but that was probably to be expected from someone who hadn’t played much high-level, competitive basketball. Sharpe’s gifts are evident, but it’s going to take him some time to make an impact, something that doesn’t necessarily align with what the Blazers are trying to accomplish. They acquired Jerami Grant from the Pistons earlier in the week, which was a clear win-now decision. So as other teams tried to assess Portland’s strategy, that threw some doubt onto which of Daniels and Sharpe they actually preferred.

Some around the league suspect that Damian Lillard was a major factor in the Blazers’ decision, which feels like a pretty reasonable hunch: as Portland continues to try and toe the line between competing for the playoffs and laying groundwork for a post-Lillard future, cooperation with their star player is an essential part of maintaining a happy equilibrium within the organization. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Lillard was involved with the Blazers’ predraft process and took a strong interest in Sharpe during his visits to Portland. (Per sources, Sharpe worked out for the Blazers on two different occasions, once in early June and again on June 15.) I was told that members of Portland’s group made a ton of calls to Kentucky staffers throughout the process and were clearly quite invested. And I suspect the Blazers would never have taken a clear long-view route at this pick without Lillard’s co-sign.

By taking Sharpe at No. 7, the Blazers gifted the Pelicans and Spurs with their preferred options at No. 8 and No. 9. New Orleans’s brass had fallen in love with Daniels and were anxiously waiting to see if he’d make it to their selection. San Antonio coveted Jeremy Sochan, but was nervous the Pelicans might take him at No. 8. Washington, picking at No. 10, was viewed by some rival teams as Sharpe’s floor. But the Wizards were also quite high on Johnny Davis, who was the obvious solution to their backcourt needs at that spot. All four of those players ranked inside my top 10 and could have been in play at any of those spots. And to me, that’s where the second, high-quality tier of draft prospects ended.
https://www.si.com/nba/2022/06/24/nba-draft-paolo-banchero-chet-holmgren-jabari-smith-final-thoughts

 

6 months from when the trade is official apparently

 

so dame was in on it. I really trust Jeremy Woo. He's climbing up the ranks of trustworthy journalists

 

And TWO workouts in Portland.

LOL How did they keep that under wraps.

Guess who else had two workouts and didn't play in college?

 

Is he better than Danny Marangutan

 

So this was his second workout in Portland? How the hell did he not let it slip?

 

I think we need to see how he works out first before extending him. What if he slacks and Chauncey wants him to come off the bench? I wouldn't want to be pressured to play him like with Norman Powell. I can easily see Winslow and Little being better chemistry wise and defense wise.

edit: to me signing him was a favor to Dame as much as anything. I would hate to double down on that.

 

Also, just some more sleuthing I dunno how much of it is purely coincidental, but Sharpe's homebase for the past year has been in Phoenix. He's posted some videos of himself working out in a gym in Phoenix on his Instagram.




Last week, Dame and his trainer posted video of their workouts at the exact same gym with Tim Frazier and Beckner.



Is it possible that Dame got even more intel on Shaedon then? This is prolly forbidden under CBA rules.

 

He had an individual workout with us at the draft combine I believe. Maybe the early June note is just a mistype.

 

The article specifically says multiple visits to Portland.

 

So the exact opposite of what Marang was claiming?

Always nice to see what I heard backed up.

 

first workouts was may 31….hmmm