With the Trail Blazers set to kick off their 2023-24 NBA season on Wednesday, there are multiple questions lingering over the franchise as they begin life without Damian Lillard. While fans can only have their questions about Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and DeAndre Ayton answered by watching the season play out, here are four bold Trail Blazers 2023-24 predictions.
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Scoot Henderson is the real deal, but still struggles
By all accounts, Scoot Henderson has the skill, drive, athleticism, and “It” factor to be an NBA star. But Trail Blazers fans shouldn't expect it to happen from get-go. With all of the hype surrounding him, it's easy to forget that Scoot is just 19 years old. Making the jump to the NBA is tough for any player that young, but can be especially difficult for a point guard that's expected to run the offense, make sure everyone gets their touches, and learn to how to lead a franchise.
It's reasonable to expect performances some nights that set NBA Twitter ablaze with takes that “Scoot Henderson has arrived” immediately followed by rougher games with the turnover count higher than hoped for.
Of course, most nights will be somewhere in between the two. But the flashes of raw takeover talent that Henderson will display will be reason enough for Blazers fans to tune in to a season that isn't expected to feature many wins.
Prediction: Henderson averages 20 points per game, but also more than 3.5 turnovers a night.
Shaedon Sharpe makes the most of his minutes, but doesn't start
If Henderson is inexperienced at 19, that doesn't quite make 20-year-old Shaedon Sharpe a grizzled veteran. However, Sharpe does have 80 games under his belt from his rookie season last year, where he averaged 9.9 points per game with at least one acrobatic display per night.
But once the Trail Blazers pulled the plug on the season and started the tank, Sharpe erupted. Over the final 10 games of the regular season, Sharpe put up nearly 24 points per game, along with six rebounds and four assists. While it's not reasonable to expect him to average the 35 minutes per game that he did in that final stretch, the aggressiveness that he displayed should carry over to this season.
Sharpe is part of a guard/wing rotation that includes Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson, Malcom Brogdon, and Matisse Thybulle all deserving of minutes, so he'll need to make the most of his time.
Prediction: Sharpe will be electric on a per minute basis, but a time crunch in the backcourt sees him limited to 14 points per game.
Malcom Brogdon gets moved at the trade deadline
After acquiring Brogdon in the Jrue Holiday trade with Boston, many fans speculated that the Trail Blazers would flip Brogdon to a contender needing depth in exchange for a young player or a pick. So far that hasn't happened and Brogdon will suit up wearing #92 for Portland.
It makes sense. After all, Brogdon is the reigning 6th Man of the Year, supposedly healthy after dealing with injuries, and is by all accounts a great veteran locker room presence for a young team.
But as the season rolls on, the holes on the Trail Blazers' roster will become glaring, and the team will start to evaluate Brogdon's presence vs. another potential pick in the NBA Draft.
Prediction: Assuming he stays healthy, look for Brogdon to be traded to a contender in February for a pick that likely falls in the low-20's.
DeAndre Ayton turns his frown upside down with Blazers
It's maybe not the boldest prediction to call for solid numbers from a center that averaged 18 and 10 last season. But DeAndre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns were headed for an inevitable divorce all year long.
While Ayton earned a reputation as a mercurial player who sometimes struggled to buy in with Phoenix, he finds himself in a situation where the expectations are much lower. In addition, while the Trail Blazers have loads of potential, they don't have much in the way of actual, good-right-now talent, outside of Simons, Jerami Grant, and Ayton.
Ayton certainly got his touches with the Suns, but he'll be a focal point in Chauncey Billups' offense this season. Look for him to eclipse his career high of 15 shot attempts per game this season.
Prediction: Ayton averages 20/11 for the first time in his career.
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