The Portland Trail Blazers rocked Rip City on Thursday night, taking preeminent mystery man Shaedon Sharpe with the seventh overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft. But just because the Blazers made their most controversial possible selection hardly means it was the wrong one. Sharpe, in fact, is the perfect pick for Portland.
There isn't a more dynamic shot-creator in this draft class than Sharpe. At 6'5” with broad shoulders and a wingspan just short of seven feet, the Canada native combines ideal positional size at shooting guard with explosive vertical pop, rare body control and elite shooting ability off the bounce. His handle needs tightening but is plenty creative already, and the threat of Sharpe's creative pull-up game should help him compensate for merely solid initial burst as a driver. He's not a high-level playmaker for others right now, but having just turned 19, showed enough natural passing vision at lower levels to make basic reads in the NBA.
Sharpe can grow disinterested at times defensively, falling asleep off the ball or getting blown by while standing up in his stance. He also flashed incredible timing as a weak-side shot-blocker and jumping passing lanes for steals, though, and has the frame to eventually be quite strong for his position. Relatively lacking suddenness side-to-side will probably keep Sharpe from ever being a stopper, but his blueprint to become a workable playoff defender is obvious.
What caused a prospect with Sharpe's extremely rare package of top-tier tools and burgeoning skill with the ball to drop to the middle of the lottery? No one has seen him play a real game since the Nike EYBL circuit in 2021, when he began his meteoric rise to the very top of the recruiting rankings in the High School Class of 2022. Sharpe capitalized on his eye-popping play over the summer by re-classifying, then enrolling at the University of Kentucky for the second semester. He didn't suit up in games under John Calipari, though, originally planning to return to Lexington for an anticipated one-and-done season in 2022-23.
Instead, Sharpe confirmed months of whispered rumors and loud speculation by declaring for the draft on April 22nd.
The Blazers' trade for Jerami Grant on Wednesday didn't just placate Damian Lillard and jumpstart hopes of getting back in the playoffs next season. After losing an extra lottery pick when the New Orleans Pelicans won the play-in tournament, moving that resulting 2025 first-rounder for an impact wing—while holding onto No. 7, of course—once again gave Portland the option of building out its roster for parallel timelines. Lillard, no matter how fresh and rejuvenated he looks come fall, will be 32 years old. It's time for the Blazers to start thinking about the path beyond him.
Taking Sharpe marks the first step of that process, one that should have Rip City thrilled. He really does have a chance to be this franchise's next superstar.
Sharpe may not contribute much as a rookie. He could even spend time in the G-League. Questions about his on-court motor are fair, and pre-draft intel suggests Sharpe didn't do much to quell concerns—which are somewhat unfair, by the way—about his commitment and dedication to the game after sitting all season at Kentucky. Lillard could be out of the league by the time Sharpe scrapes his ceiling. There's just as good a chance he never reaches it.
Sharpe is clearly worth that risk in the mid-lottery, even for a team that needs all the ready-made contributors it can get next season. But how many prospects who even have the outside chance of actually moving the needle were available at No. 7? The vast majority of rookies are negative NBA players. Bigger picture, even the likelihood of Sharpe falling well short of his potential wouldn't be a disaster. Athletic off-guards with his size, level of shooting touch and finishing flair pretty much never outright fail. The first Blazers playoff team of the next generation could use a guy like J.R. Smith or Terrence Ross.
The moment Shaedon's dream came true.
Welcome to #RipCity pic.twitter.com/sWztBDXTni
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) June 24, 2022
Joe Cronin definitely would've traded No. 7 for OG Anunoby if the Toronto Raptors were willing to part with him. Masai Ujri's asking price was always much steeper than that, and reports emerged leading up to the draft that Toronto was targeting a franchise center in potential deals for Anunoby anyway. Would the Blazers be better off with John Collins than Sharpe next season? No doubt, but worries about his fit next to Jusuf Nurkic were only compounded when Portland traded for Grant.
The Blazers will likely have the full mid-level exception come available come July after re-upping Nurkic and Anfernee Simons. Eric Bledsoe's partially-guaranteed contract on the books, and Cronin proved by sliding Grant into a trade exception that he won't let any useful team-building stone go unturned. Portland's roster is far from a finished product.
Sharpe's place on it as a teenager also remains to be seen, but what shouldn't is the sense of hope on the horizon his presence suddenly provides. The Blazers can dream, and even dream big, about the future now. Adding Grant the day before Sharpe means they can wake up feeling optimistic, too.
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