SALT LAKE CITY -- The Trail Blazers held a 47-45 lead with 5:27 to play in the first half of Wednesday night’s 127-115 victory versus the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City when Trendon Watford grabbed a rebound and pushed the ball up the court in transition. A few seconds later, he lofted a pass to rookie Shaedon Sharpe, who used his uncommon athleticism to finish the alley-oop dunk in spectacular fashion. It’s a play the young duo has pulled off multiple times this season.
“(Sharpe) pretty much just tells me to throw it up, so he makes me look like a good lob passer,” said Watford. “He pretty much just tell me to put it anywhere, so any time I see him running and we on a break, it’s pretty much going in every time. I just put it up there. That might have been my favorite one of the year.”
A photographer immortalized the moment with a photo showing Sharpe finishing the dunk from the baseline while Watford jumps in the air to celebrate, an image that is somewhat reminiscent of the famous photo of Dwyane Wade, arms outstretched, just moments after he lofted a pass for a LeBron James dunk during their halcyon days in Miami.
Watford saw that photo from Wednesday’s win in the post-game locker room and was quick to compare it to the Wade/James original.
“It might be better than the D-Wade/LeBron picture,” said Watford. “I think that might be better than that.”
While one could debate the artistic merits of Watford’s declaration, obviously he and Sharpe have a long ways to go to match, let alone surpass, the likes of Wade and James. But as the focus of Portland’s season goes from making the playoffs to improving for next season, both Watford and Sharpe will have the opportunity to build upon their sophomore and rookie season, respectively.
‘Obviously what stands out is Shaedon, his game was incredible,” said head coach Chauncey Billups of the win. “And T-Wat, who continues to be consistent.”
The young duo started in Wednesday’s win in place of Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant, and both turned in likely the best performances of their fledgling careers.
Sharpe, who got the fifth of his career and his first alongside Damian Lillard, start posted 24 points, nine rebounds and four steals in just under 40 minutes, all of which are new career-highs.
“I feel like I played pretty good,” said Sharpe. “I did what the team needed me to do, which is defend, lock up, score the ball, make plays for others. So overall, I think my performance was pretty good.”
The 6-5 Canadian in his first season out of Kentucky -- where he attended for one year but did not play -- quickly maturing into a quality rotation player is one of the most likely ways that Portland can improve their fortunes going into next season, making the final weeks of the 2022-23 campaign more important than the standings might indicate.
“(Sharpe) is picking it up,” said Billups. “He’s more confident because he knows more. There are things, as a coach, you can’t speed that process up without actual experience. I can talk to him until he’s blue in the face but until he goes out there and fails in a few games here and there and learns from that, it’s going to be tough. He’s learning from a lot of those things now.”
As for Watford, who posted 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal Wednesday night in one of the better games of his pro career, a hip injury suffered during training camp and having to play out of position due to a lack of depth at center partially stunted his sophomore campaign. But he too will likely see his role increase in the final 10 games of the 2022-23 season.
“I’m just so happy for Trendon,” said Billups. “He’s just a worker, he works his butt off. He’s worked on a lot of the things I’ve told him, like, ‘These are your weaknesses. If you’re going to make it in this league, this is what you’ve got to get better at.’ And he’s doing it every single time. The way that he plays with the feel -- he has a high level of feel about him -- and Trendon is one of those glue guys that all teams need. Aside from the numbers, he just impacts the team with his spirit at all times. When he gets the numbers, that’s just extra. Just very happy for him.”
While the Trail Blazers have not yet been eliminated from post-season contention -- the win Wednesday night moved Portland to within 2.5 games of the final spot in the play-in tournament -- the chances of jumping three teams in order to have even an outside chance of making the playoffs are slim. And the playing time will be adjusted accordingly once it becomes clear that extending the season is out of the question.
But while the team’s vets might have little outside of pride to play for if and when that happens, young players like Watford and Sharpe will still have work to do, at least if they want to improve their chances of emulating the likes of Wade and James on the court rather than on a camera.
“You’re always looking for development from the younger guys,” said Billups. “You’re just always looking for them to advance themselves and learn from the lessons, whether it’s the lessons that myself and the staff are teaching them or the lessons that you learn from playing against the other team. How quickly can you learn from that and apply it next game? Those are the things that I look for in a stretch like this that we’re in as a team. You’ve still got to find ways to be better.”