Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe Continues Growth Curve Against Heat

Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe is going through a process this season people in all fields must go through: the nonlinear nature of development. It’s a fact of life for young NBA players, even ones with lottery-pick talent and to-the-moon bounce.

After a sparkling stretch of three straight games with over 20 points on solid efficiency, Sharpe’s line on the graph dipped slightly during Portland’s 119-98 loss to the Miami Heat Saturday at home. The third-year guard still reached 22 points and five assists, but he got there on 35% shooting while tying a season-high six turnovers in the loss.

Regardless, the Trail Blazers and their fans can feel better about Sharpe’s path lately — through its ups and downs — because he’s moving with more aggression and responsibility.

“We got him where we want him right now,” Portland head coach Chauncey Billups told reporters after the loss. “We want him aggressive. We want him attacking at all times. We’re playing through him a lot.”

So often this season, Billups has said the coaching staff wants Sharpe to attack the rim more and force his imprint on the offensive side. That’s starting to happen more regularly as he learns to buck his passivity, and the results have been trending upward.

During Portland’s six-game losing streak in early December, Sharpe averaged 14.8 points on 13.2 field goal attempts per game. In the 12 games since, he’s averaging 20.6 points per game while bumping up his shot attempts to 16.5 per game — far and away the second most attempts on the team, trailing only Anfernee Simons with 18. Along with the increased scoring prowess, Sharpe continues to show playmaking flashes and pick-and-roll passing chops that seem like an unexpected bonus for a player renowned primarily for athleticism.

“You can see him getting a lot more confident in himself and going out there and playing his game,” said Simons, who scored a team-high 28 points on 10-23 shooting against Miami. “It’s exciting to see.”

With this added emphasis in the offense, the Blazers are starting to succeed through Sharpe and fail through him. It’s a step the franchise must take if it wants the young guard to take that leap and deliver the city its next All-Star.

Saturday against Miami was an example of the Blazers playing a lot through Sharpe and him struggling with the task. Still, he was aggressive again, taking eight first-quarter shots and 20 for the game. Outside of a rough opening five minutes that saw Sharpe start 0-4 with three turnovers, he brought some production, including a smooth, behind-the-back pass on the break. The struggles weren’t as woeful as the stretch early last season where he seemed almost overwhelmed by a sudden increase in minutes and ball-handling duties due to injuries — he just wasn’t as tight or impactful as you’d hope against Miami.

Billups took more exception with Sharpe’s defensive performance compared with anything he did on offense. He pointed out a few backdoor cuts and other blown coverages that burned Sharpe.

“I thought he was a step slow defensively tonight, he got beat a few times,” Billups said. “ … If he’s going to be a guy, I got to be able to trust you and depend on you on both sides.”

Billups said he’s more on his young guard about those types of plays than offensive mistakes. As long as Sharpe is trying to get teammates involved and make the right play, the Blazers will live with the growing pains. Outside of “lazy” turnovers, some offensive struggles are just a natural part of the development curve, according to Billups.

“When you start taking steps and people start really game-planning for you and you’re seeing different coverages, it takes awhile to adjust to the coverages,” he said.

Billups said remaining efficient in the face of that pressure comes down to experience, and Simons hammered home the same point. The seventh-year guard is familiar with a similar learning curve. A few seasons ago, he had to adjust to an increase in defensive attention when he evolved from a floor-spacer into a high-scoring lead guard. Simons said there are no magic words he can offer Sharpe as he deals with this next level, but he’s confident in his young teammate’s ability to succeed.

“Ultimately, you have to actually go through it in order to get better at those things,” Simons said. “He’s gonna find his way.”