The Portland Trail Blazers are currently 6-19 and riding a seven-game losing streak headed into Tuesday's matchup against the Phoenix Suns.
Clearly, this is a rebuilding year for the Blazers. Wins aren't necessarily expected and, while nice to see, they take a backseat to player development.
Several young Blazers players are showing quick growth under such a strategy. 20-year-old Shaedon Sharpe has nearly doubled his rookie season scoring average to 17.4 points per game. Second-round pick Toumani Camara has moved into the starting lineup and shown the defensive and rebounding chops to be a potential glue guy for years to come. And Scoot Henderson, this year's third overall pick in the NBA Draft, has gotten to play without the expectations of leading a winning franchise from day one.
But with all that comes necessary lineup juggling by coach Chauncey Billups. Veteran Jerami Grant is scoring 22 points per game with little depth behind him at power forward. Deandre Ayton shows flashes but struggles against smaller lineups. And of course, the Blazers have an abundance of guards deserving minutes without enough playing time to go around.
That's why Malcolm Brogdon should see he playing time reduced this season.
Why the Blazers should play Malcolm Brogdon less
First off, Brogdon is indeed a serious candidate to be traded near the deadline, as he is a veteran combo guard that would be valuable on nearly any contending team. But the Blazers, despite being the youngest team in the NBA, need to keep a handful of veterans around. Older guys can lead the youngsters, teach proper practice habits, and generally act as additional assistant coaches.
Brogdon in particular has been well regarded in his mentorship of Henderson. If the right team made the right offer, fans could see Brogdon on the move, but it's not a guarantee that the Blazers will move him.
However, as much as Brogdon is doing for Henderson in the locker room, his minutes are interfering with Henderson's growth. Especially over the last handful of games as Brogdon has faded and Henderson has had his best stretch as a pro.
Over his last 6 games (8 Blazers games, he missed 2 games with a sore knee), Brogdon is playing 24 minutes and scoring 10 points per game. Over Henderson's last 5 games, Scoot is averaging 15.8 points in 28 minutes.
On the season, Brogdon has the superior numbers, and it's not particularly close. But Henderson has come on strong of late and there have been moments where Scoot has sat on the bench in the second half despite playing well while Brogdon plays down the stretch. In the Blazers' loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, Henderson only played 11:53 in the second half compared to Brogdon's 15:48 despite outplaying him both in the half and the game overall.
This is not to knock on Brogdon, the NBA's reigning Sixth Man of the Year. He's a pro's pro and is the kind of on and off-court leader that every team could use. But if the Blazers are truly looking to develop their young talent this season, then coach Chauncey Billups should expand Henderson's minutes as he gets more comfortable with the NBA game. And those expanded minutes by necessity need to come from Brogdon. Billups can't pull that time from Anfernee Simons or Shaedon Sharpe – their scoring punch is too valuable, not to mention that at 24 and 20 years of age, respectively, they fit Portland's timeline better than Brogdon.
Making this change also has the added benefit of keeping Brogdon fresh, as he's already dealt with hamstring and knee trouble this season.
The idea of keeping Brogdon around the team this season to help mentor the young guards is a solid one, but if this truly is a rebuilding year, then Brogdon should see a handful of his minutes given to Henderson.
Follow Us
Subscribe