The Portland Trail Blazers added veterans Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard this summer.
However, their core for the new season consists primarily of young players, particularly with Lillard likely missing the season due to injury.
In the last preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, three of the Blazers starters were under 25 years old.
Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty ImagesChauncey Billups challenged Shaedon Sharpe to guard Podziemski, Curry, and Hield
Among them was Shaedon Sharpe, who scored 18 points in the 118-111 loss to Golden State.
After that game, head coach Chauncey Billups revealed he challenged the 22-year-old guard with a crucial task.
Rather than focusing on offense where Sharpe excels, Billups assigned him to defend Brandin Podziemski, Stephen Curry, and Buddy Hield.
“I’m seeing just a high level of focus. I thought he was good and locked in defensively tonight, which is why I continue to challenge him with who I put him on,” Billups explained.
“Started the game, I put Jrue Holiday on Will Richard, as opposed to you would think that Jrue on all their top guys, but I wanted to challenge Shaedon and put him on Podziemski early on and Steph a little bit.”
“He had Buddy tough covers, but he’s continued to stay focused and I’ve been proud of that. Just continue to keep getting more and more confidence in them, to put them in different tough spots out,” he added.
Shaedon Sharpe delivers impressive results against Warriors’ offensive weapons
Sharpe performed admirably in those assignments. While Curry still scored 28 points, Sharpe recorded an important steal when defending the two-time MVP.
More impressively, Sharpe significantly limited Podziemski to just four points and Hield to eight points despite both playing over 20 minutes.
Overall, Sharpe recorded three steals in the game, each coming against one of those three Warriors players.
His defensive performance validated Billups’ confidence in giving him challenging assignments.
If Sharpe consistently demonstrates these two-way capabilities during the regular season, he will emerge as one of the NBA’s most intriguing young players to follow.