MAILBAG (PART 3): How Will the Trail Blazers Approach the Draft?
Plus, questions about Chauncey Billups' contract status and Toumani Camara's offseason workout plans.
We conclude this week’s three-part mailbag with questions about the Trail Blazers’ draft plans, Chauncey Billups’ status and Toumani Camara’s plans to work out with Damian Lillard’s trainer, Phil Beckner, this offseason.
If you missed them, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 of the mailbag.
Which of the first and second year players has the highest ceiling?
- Paul O.
This is a boring response, but the answer is Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. I think Sharpe has the highest ceiling of anyone on the roster, regardless of age, and there were enough flashes and highlights from Henderson to think there’s something there, even if his rookie season mostly hasn’t gone the way anyone wanted.
What do you think is more likely, we go after Alex Sarr in this draft, or we move on from Simons and draft best available player (which could very well be a guard) again?
- Malcom
I’m not in the Blazers’ scouting meetings, so I don’t know who they have at the top of their board. There’s also a long time between now and June—we still won’t know where they’ll be picking until the May 12 lottery, and then they’ll start meeting with prospects at the combine in Chicago and doing their own workouts at their practice facility between mid-May and late June.
With that said, I don’t think you’re off-base that Alex Sarr, who followed the Rayan Rupert France-to-NBL pipeline, profiles as the kind of prospect this front office would go for. Joe Cronin and Mike Schmitz were captured on camera watching one of his games in Australia, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything—it’s the job of a front-office executive to see as many of these guys in person as they can. But I do think they like Sarr. Fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher and Colorado’s Cody Williams (brother of Jalen) also fit their type. But, again, there’s a lot that can happen between now and the draft. What seems like a good educated guess in early April might not still hold true in late June.
I can say two things pretty confidently in response to the second part of your question. One is that if the Blazers decide to trade Anfernee Simons this summer, it won’t be to make room for someone they draft, it will be to clear runway for Henderson and Sharpe as the long-term backcourt while bringing back a win-now player who plays a different position.
The other is that I really, really don’t think they’re drafting another guard this year. This draft more than most is very eye-of-the-beholder with no universally accepted hierarchy at the top. There are enough intriguing wings and bigs at comparable talent levels that I don’t really see a world where Portland has another top-five pick and decides that crowding their backcourt even further is what they should be doing.
Hello Sean.
Is it in Chauncey’s best interest to ask for an extension now?
He's been tasked with the rebuild and the record that comes with it. Only one guaranteed year left.
The team could drop him right before the tides turn. He'd be left with no winning basketball on his record.
Could he want an assurance that he will see the fruit of his labor or he simply walks now leaving things in disarray. The man signed up for Damian Lillard and winning.
- ioulaum
I’m sure Billups would love an extension. Who doesn’t want more guaranteed money and job security, no matter the line of work you’re in?
I don’t think he’s getting one, though. Frankly, he hasn’t earned it. How many coaches with a career winning percentage in the .300s (whether by their own fault or not) get contract extensions?
There’s been enough growth from Billups and development from the roster that I’m pretty certain there won’t be a coaching change this summer, but next year will very much be a make-or-break year for him.
Hi Sean,
I’m curious what the sense is within the organization of Chauncey’s strengths and weaknesses and if next year will be a defining year for his tenure in Portland. Do we have enough data around player development to know if that’s a strength of his?
- AE
One thing I’ve heard consistently from people in the organization is that Billups built a lot of equity with the front office with the way he handled Sharpe’s development in his rookie season. Cronin told Billups before last season that it was completely up to him how much or how little he played Sharpe and he wasn’t going to pressure him to play him just because he drafted him No. 7 overall. But Billups saw enough in training camp that he felt comfortable playing him from opening night, while still making him earn more minutes and a starting spot as the season went on.
The way he’s handled Henderson has been similar. He recognized early on that he wasn’t ready to start, so he brought him off the bench and let him build confidence and string good games together, then gradually gave him more responsibility and put him back into the starting lineup.
Here’s what Cronin said about Billups the last time he talked to us, after the trade deadline:
“You learn so much in those first couple of years. The phrase 'You don't know what you don't know' is overused, but it's true. There are things that surprise you that you learn, or that you don't have time to address. There's so much building with your staff and the things that you're going through. You spend so much time building your staff and getting all of that sorted out, and getting into the intricacies of the game of the intricacies of leadership. And you just learn, and sometimes you have to make mistakes to learn. I've learned that in my job. I've learned more from my mistakes than from the things that have gone well. But Chauncey, I've seen so much growth, not just in his leadership and the way he communicates with players, but in his decision-making and his strategy. I'm seeing tremendous growth. I'm really happy with where we're at.”
As I said above, next year is absolutely a defining year for Billups by virtue of his contract status. He’ll either show what he can do next year or not, and then they’ll have to make a decision.
I saw a comment that Toumani is training with Phil Beckner this summer. How does an arrangement like that happen? Is Phil pretty selective? Any idea on what they’ll be focusing on?
- Josh B.
In this case, I happen to know exactly how the connection was made: Beckner told a mutual acquaintance that he wanted to work with Camara and asked them to pass along his contact info to him, which they did.
I don’t know what exactly they’re going to work on. I also don’t know how the fractured rib and lacerated kidney Camara suffered last week will affect what he’s able to do this summer. But, to your point, Beckner doesn’t have a huge roster of players he works with, and he’s got a pretty strong track record: Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons and Mikal Bridges are his most high-profile clients. The fact that he proactively reached out to Camara about joining that group definitely bodes well for him.
