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If the Portland Trail Blazers do things right, 60 percent of their projected starting five should be different by February.
As it stands, Scoot Henderson should get a shot to man the point with the first unit, joined by Anfernee Simons, Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant and Deandre Ayton. Henderson and Avdija are keepers, but the rest of that group should be on the trade block from the jump.
Rookie Donovan Clingan needs the reps to justify his draft slot, Shaedon Sharpe deserves a chance to prove he’s the man for the job at the 2 and Toumani Camara warrants an extended look as a defensive ace who starts at the 4. All three of those young players will take their lumps, and the Blazers would probably win more games if they went forward with Simons, Grant and Ayton playing 30-plus minutes every night.
But what would be the point of that?
Portland may say it wants to pull off a leap that draws comparisons to the 2023-24 Houston Rockets, who won 19 more games last year than they did in the previous season. But even progress of that wildly unlikely degree would probably see the Blazers fall short of the Play-In.
The Utah Jazz are the only other team in the West that looks relatively feeble. Everyone else has at least semi-realistic dreams of seeing the postseason. In a year like this, Portland can’t afford to spin its wheels while its veterans lose trade value by the day. Grant, Simons, Ayton, Robert Williams III and several others will bring back more in a swap the sooner they’re moved, and the glut of go-for-it teams around the league creates a robust seller’s market for the Blazers.
Portland needs two things this season: draft equity and information on the abilities of its youngest pieces. The way to get both involves dissolving a good portion of the current starting five.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.
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