Scoot Henderson and the Portland Trail Blazers Young Role Players Are Showing Signs of Growth

Scoot Henderson and the Portland Trail Blazers Young Role Players Are Showing Signs of Growth

In today’s show scoot Henderson looks a lot better in losses to the Clippers and Nuggets plus when the Blazers go super young against Denver the future is well it’s soon for sure welcome to lockdown Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part

Of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what’s up world it’s your past first point guard and Trailblazers reporter Mike Richmond listen to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the locked on podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube coming at you each and every weekday

Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make it your first listen tell your friends to do the same it’s lockdown Blazers your team every day in today’s show talk about a couple of games Blazers played over the weekend losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and

The Denver Nuggets uh scoot Anders played his best game since returning from injury uh particularly on uh particularly on Friday evening against the Clippers I thought that was one of his best games in a while and then he played solid in a short-handed loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday we’ll

Talk a lot about scoot in this one uh on on Saturday evening the Blazers did something that’s only been done one other time in modern NBA history they started five rookies the future is soon let’s let’s let’s talk about that let’s talk about the we’ll talk about that to

Close the show the future and and kind of what what I mean when I say the future is soon because I don’t think the future is necessarily now um I guess it’s always the present that’s how now works let let’s do we do though fastest

Recap in the West for a couple games we are going to fly through these Blazers on Friday evening played the second of two games against the Clippers about 100 pm. on Friday afternoon DeAndre Aton shows up on the injury report with left elbow tendonitis and his eventually

Ruled out for the game meaning that uh duop breath is going to get the start uh he he’s your starting center alongside Chris Murray toon Kamar anrey Simons at scoot Henderson Blazers uh they you know they got kind of got handled by the Clippers on Wednesday evening and they

Got handled again on Friday down 15 after 1 down 17 after 2 down 21 heading into the fourth quarter swelled to as many as 24 there in the fourth excuse me 26 there in the fourth and then uh with the Clippers bench in uh the the Blazers

Made a run they made a push to get it kind of close and they lose one 25 117 scoot Henderson at 24-10 in this game the big news though with about 7 minutes left about 705 Mark of the third quarter amrey Simons limps back out of the game

Into the locker room and would not return he would not play on Saturday evening ruled out after uh for that game as well um the what it’s Simons has been on the injury report he missed a game against the Knicks and he’s been on the injury report with left knee tendonitis

And so he comes back you know he’s he’s had some even even since he’s been on the those the injury report you know he’s had he’s even had a good game with while dealing with this knee issue but he comes out plays in this game and then

You know he was he was on the injury report for the first Clippers game and plays he’s he’s on the injury report for the second one and again and plays and then uh he you know just he just I I I didn’t I didn’t see if there was an

Acute moment but the the limp looked like oh man I’m hurt um type of limp and he obviously didn’t play again you’re going to be really really conservative with knee injuries really care with with amrey Simons and his and that type of thing and and even if it’s just like

Soreness like I don’t I’m not enough of a doctor I’m not at all a doctor to know what tendonitis exactly means in your left knee but like they’re going to be cautious with him and uh so you know he’s he’s what there’s no timeline on him but I wouldn’t be surprised if he

Misses the Blazers are about to head out on like a twoe road trip um and I think they will be very cautious with bringing anrey Simons back I would not be surprised as I’m recording this on Sunday morning uh you’re listening to Monday March 25th show appreciate you

But as I’m recording this on Sunday morning no official word on on Anthony Simon’s availability although I would be surprised if he comes back in in the immediate future although any anything is possible but that’s that’s the big deal from this one I mean scoop played well uh

But the Clippers you know they got they got some stars and their stars played like stars Terren man returned he played pretty well and the Blazers uh lose by 81217 on Friday or excuse me that was Friday on Saturday Blazers do something very unique actually unique doesn’t really have degrees they do

Something unique it’s only happened one other time since 1970 in the NBA they roll out a five rookie starting lineup against the nuggets the nuggets are playing without Nicol yogic and without Jamal Murray um the Nuggets like they don’t have a ton of depth what they do

Have is like a perfect starting lineup when they’re healthy their lineup their starting five makes like perfect sense and they have like just enough enough depth pieces to make you think like they’re going to win a second championship because the start the starting five is like perfectly conceived when they’re um when they’re

Short-handed like this team doesn’t you know this team starts DeAndre Jordan at Center in 2024 um but even then the Blazers with as short-and as they were this no deand dton in this game no athrey Simons in this game uh still no Jeremy grants although he’s apparently

Getting closer to returning based on his injury designation and NOA styel in this one um you know the blazes were not favored at home despite despite the short-handed nature of their opponent and the players rolled out a group of five all five rookies scoot Henderson Ryan ruper Chris Murray tman Kamar and

Duop reef just the second time since 1970 this has happened in the league uh the Golden State Warriors did it at the very end of the 2012 season during an epic epic tank run to acquire Harrison Barnes who eventually wouldn’t be part of a championship team in the 73 win

Team and like I’ll say it wor worth it obviously worth it um but like during an epic tank run they started five rookies Blazers uh I don’t think this is an epic tank run like let me let me speak on this real quick uh I think there is like there are two things

Happening the Blazers are weird with injuries and I think that works against them they they don’t provide a ton of inj ton of um information they’re really they’re a really low information team they don’t provide updates they don’t provide timelines they even when they do provide some updates it’s like there’s

Just it’s just a word salad that means nothing um and also they like straight up faked injuries each of the last two years in order to lose games on purpose so they don’t have a lot of benefit of the doubt so it’s like DeAndre aen kind

Of shows up on the injury report out of nowhere and it’s like o is this fake and then anrey Simons leaves a game early and it’s like oh they rushed him back it’s like it’s h it’s happening in both directions with Blazer’s injury stuff I don’t think any of these injuries are

The like sort of classic fake uh whatever tendonopathy is as was like the classic fake one they had a couple years ago I think these are just like guys are banged up this time of year and the blazes are being particularly conservative unless they aren’t being conservative in ant’s case and he wants

To play and they want to play him and he get and he ends up you know limping out of the game um but in any case Blazers five rookies against the Denver Nuggets hung in the game for the most part hung in the game uh down down four

After one down 10 at halftime and then but at halftime they had oh of 12 from three you don’t make a three-pointer is going to be hard even against a short-handed nuggets team it’s just going to be hard to be in the game but only down 10 after

Going over 12 from three they hit six threes in the third quarter that just saved their bake and everybody got in in the acts Chris Murray hit one uh scoot Henderson hit one Jabari Walker hit one tumar Kamar hit one du PRI hit one or hit two rather um Delano Banton hit one

Actually I think scoot did not hit one I but the other guys did the other youngsters did uh and and all of a sudden six of eight from three it’s a two-point game and when scoot Henderson does hit a three that’s what I’m thinking of with 9 minutes and 1 second

Left in the game the Blazers take a two-point lead 9189 with 9 minutes left against a short-handed defending champs Denver responds immediately Aaron Gordon gets a dunk nuggets rip off a 90 run to put themselves up seven and they kind of just held the Blazers at stiff arms length from there Portland with

Thanks to some missed free throws you know splitting free throws at the end did get close in the closing seconds of the game but never had the ball with a real shot and they lose 114 111 that’s your fastest recap in the west let’s talk about scoot Henderson um he had a

Nice little weekend he had a nice Friday night a nice Saturday night particularly Friday evening I thought he played well um he he finished with 22 points and six assists against Denver uh that’s you know back-to-back solid games you go with 24 and 10 and then 22-

Six I think this is kind of this scoot Henderson I expected to some extent let’s talk about expectations and what we saw from him in that second segment but first I want to tell you about the good folks over at Robin Hood did you know that even if you got a

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Right so let’s talk about scoot um in a lot of ways scoot Henderson is the person I’ve talked about most all season long on this podcast cuz he’s the most important person in the franchise it is a weird thing to bestow upon a teenage rookie like that but the Blazers um I I

Think the framing it has chose scoot over Dame is like a is incorrect what they did was they choose they chose to keep the third overall pick regardless of who they took if they took freaking amend Thompson they would have been choosing you know if they took a center

It would they would have been choosing to keep the pick over Damen lard but but what they did do is they drafted they they invested a third overall pick in a young player when they had a sort of Pivot Point moment in the franchise what

Are we going to do next what is the next version of this team going to look like we’re keeping this draft pick and we’re building with this uh you know I I I think I made the case pretty often over the summer that I think they once they

Had a top three pick they absolutely had to take and they absolutely had to move forward but I feel like I have been really really kind of lasered in on scoot but I’ve been lasered in on scoot that’s a Adrian wowski word they’ve got a laser um I I think I’ve been

Specifically focused on scoot’s development because the Blazers when you when you take someone third overall you expect them to blossom into a really good player and Scoot Henderson struggles right out of the gate were certainly a surprise to the franchise you know they didn’t start him on day

One because they thought he was going to be a slow learner they start him on day one because they thought he was going to be had of schedule he wasn’t they had to kind of change up what he became he was starting to sort of get his rhythm prior

To the allstar break then he comes out of the All-Star break and he’s injured and misses five games and he’s come back and he’s struggled struggled like he looks like a teenager playing in the league and not like a teenager that’s going to be a really good player in the

League but just like a a a teenager struggling in the league but the last two nights have been the most promising since scoot return from injury after the All-Star break absolutely Friday evening against the Clippers I think was the best game he has played since uh returning from injury obviously it was

Um it came with it it came with some some bumps along the way like he’s not shooting he’s not having hyper efficient shooting nights in fact you know he he goes against the Clippers he he has this big game 20 24 points eight of 18 from

The field like he he he’s still in this game shot five of 12 on two-pointers right but and then and then he falls it up the next night and uh he goes He nine of 20 and scores 22 points like he and again in this game like he seven of six

From two like he’s still shooting you know he’s not these aren’t hyper efficient kns but in a lot of ways this is what I expected from scoot Henderson if this had been who he was all year a guy who is inefficient but puts up good box score numbers it wouldn’t be a thing

Right the problem was was the hyper inefficiency and the lack of box score numbers I think coming into the season and you can go check the tapes on this one I predicted he would average something like 17 and six but shoot 40% from the from the field he’s not quite

At 40% from the field he’s not quite at 17-6 like he’s he’s a 12 and five and probably end up a little higher than that cuz you can get more minutes down the stretch but he’s like a he’s like a 12 and five shooting 37% it’s like he’s he’s

Struggled but I think you saw the outline On th on excuse me on Friday evening about what he can be uh I think he did a good job getting to his spots and I think um I’ve had this conversation with a friend um and and he says that he is not

He’s not a listener so no no shout outs for you uh but he says he’s just a basketball fan who who we were talking about this and he says that he’s not worried about scoot because he feels like scoot gets to his Spots I’m not

Sure I think that I think scoot has does a good job of he’s done a better job particularly in these last two games of using his deceleration so he uses his burst to get his first step sort of past someone or shoulders past someone and then decelerating to slow down when you

Get to the rim and kind of get shots up but I think if scoot got to his his spots more he would um he wouldn’t have some of the struggles he has I feel like he gets 85% of the way and then gets he’s missing that sort of explosive

Element at The Rim that I thought he would have I thought we just have more highlights of scoo we haven’t had those but I think against the Clippers he did a good job of good good job of attacking good job of facilitating a lot of his passes against the Clippers like he

Finishes with 10 assists but I think a lot of his assists were just like making the smart pass quickly um you know he he on on Saturday against the against uh the Nuggets he threw a b bounce pass where he was behind half quarter right at half court and hit Chris Murray in

Stride through three Defenders right in right under the foul line for an easy layup on the break like he it was a dime it was a pass but but like the best passes maybe like the most fun passes are obviously highlight passes those are great but some of the best passes scoot

Makes aren’t even for assists they’re just like drive and skip it quickly because you get the defense off balance and you move the ball quickly and some of his assists are just because he makes the simple read quickly it’s like come off a screen the help is is there or

They’re sagging way off me and so that means if I if I do attack that space and then kick my my gu’s can to have a better angle or just like push it quickly and he did this a couple times push it quickly and okay the defense

Isn’t set Jabari Walker has a lane oh the defense isn’t set Chris Murray has a shot the defense isn’t set um we’re going to get we’re going to get a simple drive for tumani if I just get him the ball hit ahead quickly simple passes like when when you box score Scout and

You say like 10 assists he was carving him up no he was just making the right read a bunch and I think that I think he did a nice job of that just making the right read um and I think that’s what is an improvement for him from beginning of

The year um you know I think he got got gets the rim okay obviously shooting is or finishing is a big is a big big big big challenge for him and I think some of his finishing issues are because he’s not respected as a jump shooter and when

He’s not respected as a jump shooter they’re back the his Defender is back in the paint it means you’re driving into the pain against more bodies as opposed to having someone press up on you and you can just say I’m going to get past you and then the help’s going to come

And I’m going to be able to read The Help Defender like he because he isn’t respected as a jump shooter makes driving harder and when he gets to the rim he’s not very good at finishing but I thought he did a better job against the Clippers of mostly getting to his

Right hand his preferred right hand he had one actually two one twisting around Daniel Ty where he finished with his right hand when he could have just made a left hand a layup but he doesn’t that he doesn’t operate that way and another one where he twisted around um zubach

Where he could have just like put a little quick Lefty push shot in but he got fouled made the free throws it was fine but like two instances against Clippers where it’s like if he wasn’t super super right-handed it’ be easier um you know I I think if

You look at his just his shot chart right it’s like when he takes shots in his areas he’s better and that area right below the foul line he has good touch from and uh he seems to shoot better from the from the uh top of the

Key as opposed to the wings on threes but um and typically just like the way the NBA Works point guards don’t get Corner shots that’s like there’s some some studies a couple years ago about playing the position you play indicates often where you end up shooting from

Because it’s where you stand on the court it’s pretty interesting stuff and I think um getting Scoot a true Corner three looks which are the easiest shots in the court would probably require someone who’s like really capable um lead guard out there in front of him and

I think Anthony Simons can kind of be that but that’s just not how they they use him all the time um in general I thought the scoots games against the Clippers and then against Denver were promising games headed in the right direction and he just needed

Games where it felt like he was headed in the right direction I don’t want to like um I’m not screaming he’s back um in fact if you’re watching Youtube the title of the second bullet here is scoot bouncing back and I don’t even think he’s bouncing back I think he’s moving

Forward in the way that you want him to move forward he needed some positive games I think the Clippers game was a legitimately positive game and I think the Nuggets game he wasn’t as he wasn’t as excuse me he wasn’t as strong but he was solid in that game as well um

And that’s what they need from particularly if athre Simons is going to miss time they just you just got to get scooted out there to go do stuff um and kind of let him fail and let him figure it out um I think there’s a part early

In the season where it makes sense to kind of Shield him from failures a little bit and say like okay you’re going to play a little bit less because like just having you go out there and stink it up is um is a problem it’s not

That time anymore I I want him and he’s and I’m glad they’re committed to it now that he’s healthy and off the injury report just like give him the Reigns and let him figure it out because you can see him figuring out a little better like the simple passing stuff is

Figuring out a little bit better the his ability to push in transition and make decisions in transition is a little bit better um his ability to like I think and your mileage may vary because I had this argument literally you know I don’t know 55 hours ago is like I think he

Gets he’s getting closer to being able to get to his spots all the way and having having an understanding of where he wants to go he’s not for me he’s not all the way getting there but he’s doing a much better job of not getting caught in between and taking really hard

Leaning jump shots or taking you know floaters where he’s where he’s not getting his balance under him and he’s he’s I think he’s done a better job of getting to where he wants to mostly go and then and trying to get to his more dominant right hand and I think you you

Know you have these games 24 and 10 and then and then 22 and 5 was it um 22 Yeah 22 and six I shorted him I’m sorry scoot that’s what you want to see from him regardless of the shooting just like go take the Reigns of the offense make some decisions get

Yourself into the paint um you know he he’s he shot decent in these games like five of 10 from three one of those threes he banked in and a couple of them came in uh like late garbagey time against the Clippers so like I don’t want to say like he he’s really shooting

Well but if scoot can make threes it opens up the drive if scoot can decelerates and get himself um get himself better shots because he slows down it kind of mitigate some of his like lack of true true true true explosiveness at The Rim um you’re starting to see him develop counters and

Develop I I think one of the the challenges with him early in the season was that he would decide I’m going to do this and nothing could nothing was going to sway that decision I’m going to drive right and I’m going to get there I’m going to get around this dude and I’m

Going to get Baseline I’m going to make my little reverse layup I think he’s starting to be able to make the second and third decisions on the move at full speed and the second and third decisions while shifting from 1,000 M an hour to down to 17 down to the school zone and

Being able to drive in the school zone being able to beat people at slow motion is really a great skill for point guards particularly who has as physical as him um defensively he’s he’s like he’s pretty physical I think he fouls a little bit too much but I would rather

Have scoot foul too much than not be active um sometimes the fouls are 70 feet from the rim in the back court and it’s like don’t don’t do that but like in general I think these are two positive games from scoot Henderson and you want to see him keep building on it

Because he hadn’t had a lot of positive games and so while I didn’t come away from this weekend thinking like scoot is going to be great I came away thinking from like oh good good he’s like there’s there is there are there are there are better days ahead for scoop because he’s

He’s looking like he’s building on um some of his struggles coming out of the All-Star break and it was like you don’t want the you want the graph at least to be flat as opposed to as opposed to heading the wrong direction speaking of stars and the Blazers coming out with

Five rookies against the Denver Nuggets and it is a cliche thing to say the future was on display against Denver I don’t know if I think that I think that it gave me more questions about what the future might be and what the Blazers have for their future I think is an

Interesting question worth answering let’s let’s talk about what we saw and the future is soon for the Blazers to be sure let’s talk about that to close the show first let’s talk prize picks is daily Fantasy Made Easy it’s the number one fantasy Sports app there’s over 3 million members already using prize

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Guard I’m still Mike Richmond and you are still listening to locked on Blazers there was a time in my professional life I’ve been covering the NBA as a oh man I’ve been covering the NBA as a credential and media member for a decade in very roles I’ve written for a

Newspaper written for websites done some local Regional television and hosted this year podcast there was a time though I’ve actually been at one point when I worked at The Oregonian it was back in the day when uh there were big budgets at newspapers I was the eighth

Guy on the beat eight eight there’s not even eight people in the sports Department anymore I mean there are but barely I was the eighth guy on the beat but at one point I was I was I was third and I I would get third choice uh uh

Stories um in a couple different roles I’ve been I’ve been third in a couple different roles I’ve been second now my own podcast baby number one you know who’s making the decisions me I get I get the first pick of the good stories um but in any case when I was the third

On the beat I would have to like I’d have to be scr a little bit and I I it was I I was hearkened back to that I scr like for what story am I going to write today and I was hearken back for that when the Blazers trotted out five rookies

Uh in their starting lineup cuz it’s like I will write uh you know after after whoever writes the gamer and whoever writes the Second Story on the play of scoot Henderson I’ll write about how the Blazers their future was on display against the nuggets and that is

The type of cliche that I would have just pitched on deadline to an editor and they would have said yeah great um but in on this year podcast I get a little more space to think about things and I get to be a little bit more honest about my feelings because the microphone

Allows me a little more space for honesty I don’t think the Blazer’s future was on display unless you’re talking about the future of the role players I think one of the the the interesting Parts about this season for the for the Blazers is like they don’t have any foundational

Star level pieces but they have discovered some really intriguing role players and I think the distinction here I’m making because I think some people get maybe uh push back a little bit when I say the Blazers have only discovered role players and I describe you know some of

Their guys as role players I think star players have star player skills like being able to create their own offense by themselves off the dribble I’m not sure the Blazers have that with Tani kamaro or Jabari Walker or duop Reef but um and not every player

Who can dribble and get and score on their own as a star see Delano Banton but like there are Star skills and then there are role player skills role players can be you could be the third best player on your team without Star skills you could be an excellent Cog on

A on a team that wins a whole bunch of games by being an elite role player it’s just like you can’t bu build the thing around what tman Kamar does but I think he’s going to be good and when when I say the future was on

Display I am I am struck by this sort of question that I’m asking myself and I don’t have an answer but I’m going to ask it I’m going to ask it here pose it here and then like let you you sort of ruminate on this because we’ll talk about this for

Months how many players are currently on the Blazer roster that can be on the Blazer roster when they get good again I think if you ask fans of the team right now there’s some of them that say trade everyone blow it up because there’s fans that say that about every iteration of

The Blazers for always but I think there is a strong majority of um not a strong majority but I think there is a majority of fans who like say I like all the players on the team right now like I don’t I I understand they need to get

Better and need to improve but like there are six seven eight guys that I I I would like them to hold on to because I I like their potential and I think that’s the real truth of what was on display against the Nuggets Taman Kamara finished with uh 11 and seven against

Against the Clippers and then he bounced back or or or then he had bounce back then he had 16 points seven boards and six dimes career high six dimes against against Denver the that Clippers game 11 and seven he was solid and then but I thought he played pretty like aggressive

And fun defense and then that that he just filled out the box score 167 and six with a block and a steel uh he was a lot of his passes are just keep it moving driving kick passes he had one tip out to on offensive rebound cuz he’s a really aggressive

Offensive rebounder and johon bips lets him crash basically at all times um and he to tip out to to oppr for a three in the fourth quarter and and he had a really nice feed inside too banson but for the most part his passes are just

Like making making the right read off of drives or kickouts um or or you know just like really really you know he’s not like this high level passer but he he he keeps the ball moving he’s a decent slasher off the wing and he’s a really good defensive

Player he’s going to be part of some he’s going to be an effective NBA player just cuz of those skills Jabari Walker is like he’s I think he’s established himself as like not not a wing but more of a big like he’s an undersized four

He’s a 4 five as opposed to a 34 I thought he was a 3 four probably said as much on the podcast that he was more three than five watching him more this year I think he’s established himself as more five than three he’s probably a power forward just for the most part

That’s kind of what where he fits in but he’s a role player who helps with his defense his timely cutting um he’s a really good rebounder he plays hard as heck like I he’s um you know his offense might hold him back a little bit but I

Think he’s got some stuff do up wreath in this game he was so freaking good against Denver the reason the Blazers were in this game is because D op had 24 points eight boards he had three threes and what he really did was he leveraged this the how much they’re worried about him

Shooting because he took six three-pointers in this game three of six from three is they’re worried about him shooting to beat guys off the dribble and at his size to be able to take the ball from the three-point line show show a pump fake and then beat people off the

Dribble it’s why I I think I’ve compared him favorably to NAS Reed who’s someone his size who has a handle Nas Reed more athletic and a better handle but like two OPP ability to put the ball on the on the deck and score um is a really

Intriguing thing he struggles a lot on defense but he’s a really intriguing offensive player between two and Jabari between tumani and Jabari and duop I think the players have a really intriguing group of role players that’s a really intriguing group of role players you can’t build the plane out of

Role players I think Chris Murray if he ever figures it out on offense does enough positive stuff to be a long-term Pro already defends in a smart way he has a really good sense of how to cut um he’s not this like high high high high high level playmaker but he totally

Understands how to make plays him and Jabari Walker are similar in that vein where neither of them are great passers I think is Chris a little better but like both of them can read a defense and and understand the decisions need to be made even if they can’t physically make

The high level passes just yet um what I think d o banson for for my money he’s just uh a lot of his best games have become because of volume and I don’t think on a good team he’ll ever have the volume again so where he fits as a low volume

Scorer he’s a really intriguing skill set but a low volume scorer because that’s most of his value is going to be on offense I’m not sure where he plugs in but if you look at Tani and Jabari and du up and then like a slight step below Chris because I’m I’m a little

Worried about his offensive production right now the Blazers have really intriguing role players the future is soon and by that I mean you’ve got you at some point you’re going to have to make a decision about which of those guys is part of the core going forward

Which is which do you trade to upgrade if you if you go that route and who you know who gets a second contract and all of those things right eventually you’re going to have to do that and the Blazers are still in the market and they need to

Be searching for it until they absolutely get it is for a player who is a like a Bonafide star to build around perhaps that’s shade and sharp but we just don’t know yet and that’s one of the most difficult parts of the season I think it’s pretty clear it’s not amre

Simons certainly not it doesn’t look like it’s scoot Henderson right now um although he has some he has again some serious franchise investment in him but what I came away thinking after this Denver game is that the Blazers have if nothing else this year discovered a trio maybe a quartet

Of useful role players and if they were a good team those are dudes who are going to really help on a good team and if Blazers can add Talent they’ve got those complimentary parts that are going to make that are going to get you know usually with role players if you play

With better players they make the year life easier and then your job is because your job is easier you look better um all of those guys are solid role players and could help on a team um that has a little more talent and I I think there

Is something to be said for that finding those finding those really solid plug-and-play typee of role players the the why the future isn’t now because you can’t build forward until you have that foundational piece and the Blazers don’t have that foundational piece but the future is soon and those gentlemen

Tumani Jabari and doop and Chris those are guys are going to be part of the future probably inless they have to make tough decisions this summer because that’s how it works or because the timeline gets extended and you got to and the nature of the league is that

There’s a ton of roster turn and that the next time the Blazers are like a truly good team the likelihood that more than three guys that are currently on the roster now will still be on the roster then is relatively low because that’s just the nature of the

Beast but if Blazers do find a way to accelerate it if they really nail a draft pick this sum or they make a a trade for a young veteran that really changes their outcome they have some useful role players who can who will be able to scale up and as long as they

Aren’t asked to do too much can play a a role on High level teams because of what they bring to the table I think Tani would be good on PR basically any team particularly team with that doesn’t need him too much on offense I think duop is an really interesting backup center just

Because of his offensive package uh Jabari Walker and Chris Murray are probably offensive in offensive AR away from being true impact players but they look like they do enough other good stuff to be long-term NBA players you build a little some role player you got some role players in the mix you’re

Going to have a chance the Blazers need a foundational piece it’s why we talked so much about scoot in the segment number two they got to find it but they found they found a lot of complimentary parts and I think if there’s a good part about this season it’s there is that

They have been successfully found role players and high level role players the next step is going to be the biggest most challenging one that is going to do it for today’s show uh come back next week 5 days a week RAV get Podcast I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you Soon

Much needed steps in the right direction after a shaky couple of weeks for Scoot Henderson. Plus, the Blazers have a group of intriguing young role players as they search for a foundational piece.

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