The Portland Trail Blazers ended the 2024-25 season missing out on the Western Conference Play-In by three games. Their 36-46 record was an unexpected 15-game increase on the rebuilding franchise’s 2023-24 performance.

The Blazers were never expected to get close to this year’s NBA Playoffs. In fact, the initial preseason had the team eyeing the likely number one pick, Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

However, a rise in output, particularly on the defensive end, re-calibrated expectations midseason, notably after they won 10 of 11 games in January and February. Though the momentary success was fun to watch, this writer was notably concerned about the team’s worsening lottery odds.

This concern was exacerbated by General Manager Joe Cronin’s post-NBA Trade Deadline press conference where he supported the team winning as much as they could. The franchise now enters an offseason with a few standout talents and a lot of question marks.

Today, we look at the highlights, the lowlights and causes of hope and trepidation.

Highs
Deni Avdija

Avdija suffered a slow-ish start to his Blazers tenure, but as the franchise started rattling off wins, the 24-year-old Israeli grabbed a spatula and started cooking. The uptick in production continued to where he averaged 26.8 points on 42.3 percent from three, 10.8 boards, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals in his final 10 games, a noticeable increase on his season numbers of 16.9 points on 36.5 percent from three, 7.3 boards, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steals.

He’s established himself as more than just a role player or someone capable of being a second- or third-best player on a really good team: Avdija is a legit two-way threat, boasting flexibility on the defensive end strength, skill and speed on offense.

Toumani Camara

Camara will likely land himself on an All-Defensive team this season. From the obscurity of the 52nd pick 22 months ago, the Belgian is now Chauncey Billups’ premier attack dog, quelling some of the league’s best offensive talents. He’s earned the mantle as the league’s number one offensive foul drawer while also developing his offensive game, able to hit the three and hitting close to 40 percent from the corner.

The fact that he was included in the Damian Lillard trade was, in hindsight, a master stroke from the Blazers front office. Camara is now extension eligible, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Blazers lock him in this summer or let him get to restricted free agency 12 months from now.

Lows
Jerami Grant

Grant had an objectively bad season. For some reason, his ability to score inside the three-point line nearly evaporated, hitting a measly 37.3 percent from the field. Despite the downturn, he was still able to maintain a relatively acceptable 36.5 percent from three and his defense edged above average.

In isolation, I don’t mind that Grant had a down year. But the goal for Cronin is to move his remaining three years and $102 million, which now looks like a tall order.

While I don’t think trade value fluctuates too much over the course of one campaign, the optics around the veteran forward are unmistakably less ideal. Grant’s deal is still neutral at worst, and his body of work speaks for itself. While the amount of money isn’t small, it’s hardly one of the worst contracts in the league.

To be clear, I’m less concerned with the deal the Blazers signed him to in 2023 and more concerned with the fact that they didn’t sell high on him.

Too many wins

As mentioned, I have real concerns about how many games the Blazers won this season. Stuck in no man’s land, they now approach next month’s NBA Draft lottery tied with the Phoenix Suns for the league’s ninth worst record.

After the trade deadline, I wrote that it would be malpractice for the Blazers to even sniff the Play-In tournament, and nothing has changed since then. I have felt uneasy about the wins, particularly over the past few weeks, as it may have robbed the Blazers of franchise-changing talent.

The Blazers only needed to stick out two more months of losing. Those two months will quickly be forgotten two years from now when the team is still without that star.

The Blazers now have a 3.7 percent chance at Flagg. If the Blazers had stayed in line for the fifth or sixth worst record, those odds would have risen to more than 9 percent.

Promising
Shaedon Sharpe

Sharpe’s talent has never been disputed. Unfortunately, injuries restricted him to just 32 games last season, depriving him of the opportunity to explore said talent. There’s been no such issue this season, with the Canadian able to put 72 games together.

He bounced back from being benched for defensive purposes midseason and showed a noticeable increase in intensity on that end. Sharpe still needs to harness and expand that killer instinct he uses to throw down righteous dunks to all other aspects of his game.

The test now will be building on that growth next season before he hits restricted free agency in 2026. If he’d been able to play a full sophomore season, an extension could have been done earlier, but the prudent move would be to let him prove it next season.

Donovan Clingan

Clingan had a more than satisfactory end to his rookie season after being taken seventh last June. After Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III went down with injury down the stretch, the 7’2 behemoth increased his minutes from 16.3 to 26.8 a game. With that, his points rose from 5.6 to 8.3, his rebounds from 6.7 to 10.4, his assists from 0.7 to 1.9, and his blocks from 1.6 to 1.9.

There’s nothing to stop me believing that Clingan will flourish into this team’s center of the future. He just needs to expand his offensive game to a point where he can be relied on for more than just putback opportunities and open dunks.

Trepidation
Realistic trade return for veteran players.

As discussed with Grant earlier, the Blazers will need to move on from some of its veterans over the next 12 months. Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons, and Robert Williams III are all extension eligible before they hit free agency next summer.

Cronin has probably waited too long to trade said veterans, but there’s still value out there, particularly with Simons. They just need to ensure they don’t wait any longer in case that value sinks further.

Conclusion

You probably noticed the exclusion of Scoot Henderson above. After producing midway through the season, the point guard returned to mediocre play down the stretch. I honestly don’t know whether I’m excited or still concerned, hence the omission.

One thing is certain: the next 12 months will be crucial in the success of the re-build. Avdija and Camara have given Portland fans something to look forward to while Sharpe and Clingan have shown intriguing progress.

Grant’s season was disappointing, but ultimately, he, Simons, and Williams should still yield some value in deals done in the near future. With Ayton… who knows? While the Blazers improved their record, making claims about what this team is today would be premature.

What’s also clear is that if the Blazers don’t luck out at next month’s NBA Draft Lottery, they could miss out on a key piece for the price of two decent months and a few more wins. I’ve been consistent in arguing the extra wins weren’t worth it; and time will tell whether that ends up mattering or not.