While The Blazers Were Away...
Monday was Media Day, but where are the Blazers really at?
It’s been a long time since we’ve chatted. And truthfully, I thought there would be more to talk about by the time we got to Media Day. In an era where players change teams like a 2K randomizer, the Blazers brought back almost their entire team, with the exception of trading for Deni Advija.
They were close to trading Jerami Grant to the Los Angeles Lakers but eventually, nothing came of those rumors. The rumors about Anfernee Simons, particularly ones connecting him to his hometown Orlando Magic, who have a gaping hole when it comes to perimeter creation and 3-point shooting at the guard spots, were put on the shelf.
And we didn’t even get to the rumors from the summer about head coach Chauncey Billups. Billups, whose brother, Rodney, was let go from his own coaching staff during the season, spent the time before his 2024 Hall of Fame Induction to make it clear on multiple podcasts that he did not sign up to coach a rebuilding team.
Grant, Simons and Billups were all with the team for Monday’s Media Day, as well as everyone else. But more importantly than what they said on Media Day, let’s recap how we got here and where things stand for the Blazers heading into the preseason. Because while there weren’t a ton of transactions, there was a lot to process.
Blazers TV Deal
I rarely dabble in the “Sports Business” part of the Blazers because it’s usually pretty boring and also generally inconsequential to how the team does. This also applies to my views on ownership, as it’s really just more important to have someone who signs the checks and lets the professionals work than it is to have someone who is like Jerry Jones and meddling in everything in service of trying to win. Patriots Bob Kraft is a notorious cheap skate and somehow lucked into 6 Super Bowls. However, the Blazers agreeing to air all of their games over the air for free on KATU is one of the biggest Blazers wins of this century. It’s not as exciting as either one of Dame’s buzzer-beaters or CJ in Game 7, but it might just as big.
For far too long, the Blazers allowed for it to be easier and cheaper to watch the likes of Steph Curry or LeBron James on national television than it was to watch the local team. The fact that all Blazers games will be available to fans for free locally if they have a digital antenna can’t be oversold.
This is massive and is probably the biggest win the Blazers will get in 2024-25. Because this season is going to be weird, it’s probably going to be rough at times and ultimately, nobody really knows what next year will bring.
The Scoot Question
It was a red-flag for me when I first heard that Scoot Henderson wasn’t playing in Summer League. My negative feelings about him not playing only grew when every single 2023 rookie, except for Wembanyama (one of the faces of the Paris Olympics, so you know he was busy) and Scoot (not one of the faces of the Paris Olympics), were in Vegas for Summer League.
Whatever the official reasons were for him not playing in Summer League, it didn’t pass the smell test. He had a strong finish to his season in March, of course, but it would have been nice to get a little bit of a progress report by watching him play rather than hearing stories.
However, despite not playing in Summer League, I think the most quietly underrated story of the offseason came later in the summer when the now-retired Woj reported that Scoot Henderson hired Rich Paul and Klutch Sports to represent him. While online databases said that Henderson’s representation was Par-Lay Sports, it’s my understanding that Henderson and his family were effectively going it alone on the representation for most of his rookie year before landing with Klutch.
The Klutch connections to the Blazers have been discussed here before but in case you were unaware: Jerami Grant and Shaedon Sharpe are both repped by Klutch, Chauncey Billups is repped by Klutch’s Coach’s agent Andy Miller and Joe Cronin’s contract was negotiated by Klutch. And before he was traded to Washington for Advija, Malcolm Brogdon also joined Klutch.
Your mileage may vary when it comes to your perception of Klutch Sports, because they’re probably tied to your opinion of LeBron James. But for what it’s worth, in my opinion, aligning with a real operation is the best thing that Team Scoot has done since getting drafted. Your professional team and loved ones, even if they were with you shooting in the gym, can only do so much. Having experienced representation with strong relationships at all levels of the league can only help. For a young man who just turned 20 and has the expectations of a franchise on his shoulders, who had a signature shoe before he even get to the NBA, there’s perhaps no better ally to have than Klutch.
But Klutch can’t play the games for him. He will likely come off the bench and he showed he could make an impact in that role during the season, most notably his strong performance in their win in Damian Lillard’s homecoming game.
It’s a big year for him and the circumstances have been far from perfect, with Simons still sitting in the starting PG spot. But as rookies go, Henderson had far from an ideal start to his career. And those facts can’t be separated from where we are, nor should they be separated from expectations.
In On Clingan
I’m very in on Donovan Clingan. Summer League sold me, especially the game when he clearly outplayed No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr. Clingan likely will have an adjustment when it comes to conditioning after playing only about 20 minutes per game in college, but this is a year in which the Blazers don’t have to worry about that too much. All the Media Day comments seemed to indicate a knowledge that this team will not be in the play-in or in the playoffs. Advija probably had the most declarative statement: that the Blazers don’t want to be last in the West.
I’m preemtively excited for the limited minutes Clingan gets, especially if they decide to roll with some two-big looks with him and Deandre Ayton. With Robert Williams also in the fold, there might be a minutes crunch. It will be weird but it also could be really fun. Maybe that should be the team slogan. “The 2024-25 Blazers, It Will Be Weird But Could Be Fun, Maybe.”
New Coaching Staff
Speaking of weird, I felt for Chauncey Billups today when he was answering questions about his coaching staff. Not because the questions were unfair, but mostly because the front office fired his brother and brought on a couple of other more seasoned coaches in Nate Bjorkgren and Chris Flemming.
Billups’ name came up in rumors for both the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons jobs this summer, but ultimately nothing came of it. However, with him entering the final year of his contract and him no longer having full control over his coaching staff, his job status will likely hang over the entire season whether the team likes it or not.
Club Shae Shae
I’m really excited to see what Year 3 of Shaedon Sharpe has in store. It’s a big season for him and for the Blazers as he can become eligible for a contract extension next summer.
Notes
I wasn’t at Media Day today but I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend that you watch Deandre Ayton’s Media Day press conference. It's a good time.
It feels like we’ve been doing this too much lately, but Rest in Peace to the great Dikembe Mutombo, who passed away today at the age of 58. It’s been a rough year for our basketball legends, as we’ve lost Jerry West, Bill Walton and now Mutombo. I never had the pleasure to chat with Mutombo but several of my friends have had the opportunity to meet him and all of them talk about it like one of the great moments of their lives, not unlike stories people had of meeting Walton. The basketball world is a little bit smaller and a little colder today.