Portland Trail Blazers
The 2024-25 Portland Trail Blazers can be defined by being an under-the-radar Pacific Northwest Young Surprise Team.
What did we learn?
The Blazers actually did not tank.
While the Pistons stole the show as the Young Surprise Team of the 2024-25 SZN, the Blazers won 14 games more than their preseason Over/Under win total, so they very much qualified.
Hats off to Joe Cronin for letting the boys play and not pulling the plug for once. And to Chauncy Billups (!?) for getting this group to buy in defensively, improving to No. 16 in defensive rating after being No. 23 the season prior.
The most underrated offseason move of last summer might be Portland acquiring Deni Avdija, who was a huge factor in the improvement of this team, perhaps the biggest.
Avdija’s post All-Star break numbers were certifiably insane:
23.3 points, 9.7 rebs, 5.2 ast and 41.7% from 3
His nickname of Turbo is perfectly fitting as he flies up the court in the transition where he does his best work. A true connector on both offense and defense.
Shaedon Sharpe had the Power Dunk of the season and once again showed he’s more than just a power dunker, improving to 18.5 points per game and shooting 55.7% on 2’s in his third season.
Sharpe’s 3-point shot could still use some work in the consistency department, but he’s more than capable of dialing in with eight games of 4+ made 3-pointers, highlighted by his best game of the season vs. the Jazz: 37 points and 6-of-12 from 3 (!!).
Scoot Henderson turned another corner. He didn’t play as much and he shot less, but his efficiency got better and he didn’t turn the ball over as often. Scoot even had a game in mid-January where he racked up 39 points by way of shooting 8-of-10 from 3 (!!). Investors in Scoot island (Simmons and Russillo) are glad they didn’t bail.
Anfernee Simons had a roller coaster of an up-and-down season. Nine games of 30+ points and 12 games of less than ten points.
Toumani Camara was a defensive stalwart. Talking about a fleecing of a trade. The Blazers got Camara in the Ayton trade where they sent Nurkic and Nassir Little to the Suns.
Add it all up and you get the most wins for the Blazers since 2020-21 when they had Dame, CJ, Norm Powell and Portland Melo.
A new era of Blazers basketball is here and the trajectory is onward and upward.
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Additional Notes
The top-2 highest paid players on the team this season, Deandre Ayton and Jerami Grant, didn’t even get a mention in the main Rev-U above. That’s because Ayton only played 40 games and Grant just 47 — about half the season. But both vets contributed to winning when in the lineup.
Cling Kong was coming around the mountain toward the end of the season, notching 5 double-doubles post-All-Star after just 3 the entire rest of the season.
After the success of this season, both Joe Cronin and Chauncey Billups were signed to extensions.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
Had full intentions of going Under, but the number here is just too low. Over 21.5 wins.
Blazers 2024-25 record: (36-46)
Yes indeed! So glad we switched this one.
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What’s Next?
The No. 11 pick in the draft. Could the Blazers strike gold with a diamond in the rough of the late lottery?
Portland is set up well with financial flexibility going forward, well below the luxury tax.
It feels like the Blazers could be poised for a full-on Pistons-like breakout season, but the West is just so stacked, man.
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Favorite Blazers Highlight of the 2024-25 Season:
02/26/25 Shaedon Sharpe — LEVEL MF 5!!!
THE RETURN OF POWER DUNK CITY: COMING SOON!!!
