TRAINIG CAMP

[GEE]

According to Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian, The Portland Trail Blazers will hold training camp in preparation for the 2022-23 season in Santa Barbara, California. Fentress reports that Media Day will take place in Portland on Sept. 26 in Portland followed by the start of training camp on Sept. 27 in Santa Barbara.


NO PLAYER POS HT WT DOB (AGE) EXP COLLEGE
21 Keljin Blevins SG 6-4 200 11/24/1995 (26) 2 Montana St.
4 Greg Brown SF 6-8 206 9/1/2001 (21) 1 Texas
18 Devontae Cacok PF 6-7 240 10/8/1996 (25) 3 North Carolina-Wilmington
18 Kris Dunn PG 6-3 205 3/18/1994 (28) 6 Providence
24 Drew Eubanks C 6-9 245 2/1/1997 (25) 4 Oregon St.
4 Harry Giles III PF 6-11 240 4/22/1998 (24) 3 Duke
9 Jerami Grant PF 6-8 210 3/12/1994 (28) 8 Syracuse
11 Josh Hart SG 6-5 215 3/6/1995 (27) 5 Villanova
19 Elijah Hughes SG 6-5 215 3/10/1998 (24) 2 Syracuse
6 Keon Johnson SG 6-4 185 3/10/2002 (20) 1 Tennessee
0 Damian Lillard PG 6-2 195 7/15/1990 (32) 10 Weber St.
10 Nassir Little SF 6-5 220 2/11/2000 (22) 3 N. Carolina
23 Ben McLemore SG 6-3 195 2/11/1993 (29) 9 Kansas
7 Isaiah Miller PG 6-0 185 11/9/1998 (23) R North Carolina-Greensboro
27 Jusuf Nurkic C 6-11 290 8/23/1994 (28) 8 —
00 Gary Payton II PG 6-3 195 12/1/1992 (29) 6 Oregon St.
10 Reggie Perry PF 6-8 250 3/21/2000 (22) 2 Miss. St.
30 Olivier Sarr PF 6-11 238 2/20/1999 (23) 1 Kentucky
— Shaedon Sharpe SG 6-5 198 5/30/2003 (19) R Kentucky
1 Anfernee Simons SG 6-3 181 6/8/1999 (23) 4 —
— Jabari Walker PF 6-9 215 7/30/2002 (20) R Colorado
2 Trendon Watford PF 6-8 237 11/9/2000 (21) 1 LSU
8 Brandon Williams PG 6-2 190 11/22/1999 (22) 1 Arizona
26 Justise Winslow SF 6-6 222 3/26/1996 (26) 7 Duke


Quite the accumulation of talent IMO. Sure wish I could watch the whole training camp live, or at least see lots of video from it. Most interesting to me from the list above(CBS SPORTS) is Harry Giles III. I hope it's not a misprint, because from that list, I see a huge competition coming ahead at PF/C. It would be fun to see Watford, Walker, GB3 and Eubanks battling against the invites in HG III, Sarr, Perry and Cacok, for a chance at a roster spot or small non-traditional NBA contract.

CAN'T WAIT...

RIP CITY!!!

[BNM]

I'm a little bummed that Payton will miss training camp and the preseason, but at least it looks like he may be ready to go by opening night.

Still, as a new player with new teammates and a new coach, it would have been nice for him to have an opportunity to build some chemistry with his teammates and get some reps in Chauncey's system prior to the start of the regular season.

https://www.nba.com/news/blazers-gary-payton-ii-surgery-core-muscle-injury

[ebott]

I'm a little bummed that Payton will miss training camp and the preseason, but at least it looks like he may be ready to go by opening night.

I concur. To elaborate, I feel like Dame and Anfernee have been a little spoiled in that they always had a backcourt mate that dribble, shoot, pass and finish. To my knowledge Payton is just a shooter. It's going to take Dame and Anfernee some time to get used to having to spend a pretty big hunk of time with a backcourt mate that's so offensively limited. Without that preseason time to get used to Payton's limits I'm worried that Dame and Anfernee are gonna play with Payton the way they play with the likes of CJ or Hart and that will result in a Payton being forced into situations he's not really capable of handling and that'll result in a lot more turnovers than we are used to our guards committing.

[Case2012]

Mclemore coming back wouldn't bother me. The guy is still very athletic and a sniper from 3. Obviously he can't defend worth crap but he's a microwave scorer and having him around in case of injuries isn't the worst idea. I think he showed last season that he's matured a lot as well and having him in the locker room would probably be good for the young guys.

[Norm2953]

Interesting Portland's first pre-season game is in Seattle against the Clippers. Much speculation of
Seattle being first in line for an expansion franchise

[GEE]

Interesting Portland's first pre-season game is in Seattle against the Clippers. Much speculation of
Seattle being first in line for an expansion franchise

I had read somewhere (credible) recently that both Seattle and Las Vegas have a very high likelihood of getting a team.

Could be worth the trip to see the game. I want to see Shaedon play soooooo bad. They should televise it. Hopefully they will.

[DaVoiceMaster]

They talked about that on the radio a couple of weeks ago. Would that send Minnesota and Memphis to the Eastern Conference? How many Divisions would each conference have...4? If so, Portland, Seattle, Utah and Sacramento?

[GEE]

I'm a little bummed that Payton will miss training camp and the preseason, but at least it looks like he may be ready to go by opening night.

I concur. To elaborate, I feel like Dame and Anfernee have been a little spoiled in that they always had a backcourt mate that dribble, shoot, pass and finish. To my knowledge Payton is just a shooter. It's going to take Dame and Anfernee some time to get used to having to spend a pretty big hunk of time with a backcourt mate that's so offensively limited. Without that preseason time to get used to Payton's limits I'm worried that Dame and Anfernee are gonna play with Payton the way they play with the likes of CJ or Hart and that will result in a Payton being forced into situations he's not really capable of handling and that'll result in a lot more turnovers than we are used to our guards committing.

I don't think you need to worry too much ebott. I honestly don't see GP2 getting a ton of minutes, unless one of Dame or Simons can't suit up. I think his minutes will be situational depending on matchups, knowing we will have both Hart and Little for the PG13 types.

I won't be mad at all if I'm wrong though, and GP2 becomes the 3rd part of a steady rotation with Dame and Simons... as long as they play at turbo speed for 48 minutes, which seems quite doable. I've always seen GP2 as a bit of a swiss army knife-like player that has lots of tools in his belt and can be a specialist, however you need him to be, but also has a solid all-around game.

[DaVoiceMaster]

Do the Blazers have an open roster spot? Tell me Blevins is not with the team this season!!!

[GEE]

Do the Blazers have an open roster spot? Tell me Blevins is not with the team this season!!!

I was just thinking about this before bed last night. I'm not sure if we do or not, but if I were Cronin, considering how small the contracts are of our current #11-15 guys on the roster, I would have to believe that nobodies spot below 10 is guaranteed, so the current #14 & 15, SHOULD be open season.

[Dame Lizard]

Do the Blazers have an open roster spot? Tell me Blevins is not with the team this season!!!

100% agree. There's no debating that he's only on the team because he's Dame's cousin. He's really not been impressive at all.

[Pattycakes]

Even if Giles or Ben Mc didn’t make opening day, it’s still really cool to see them both on this list

[Village Idiot]

I'd love to sign Giles as our 3rd center. When he played for us, I felt like he only needed minor improvements in screen setting and roll timing on offense and help defense to be a rotation quality big. His shooting and ball-handling are fine and his man-to-man D seemed passable.

[BlazersBroncos]

I'm a little bummed that Payton will miss training camp and the preseason, but at least it looks like he may be ready to go by opening night.

I concur. To elaborate, I feel like Dame and Anfernee have been a little spoiled in that they always had a backcourt mate that dribble, shoot, pass and finish. To my knowledge Payton is just a shooter. It's going to take Dame and Anfernee some time to get used to having to spend a pretty big hunk of time with a backcourt mate that's so offensively limited. Without that preseason time to get used to Payton's limits I'm worried that Dame and Anfernee are gonna play with Payton the way they play with the likes of CJ or Hart and that will result in a Payton being forced into situations he's not really capable of handling and that'll result in a lot more turnovers than we are used to our guards committing.

I don't think you need to worry too much ebott. I honestly don't see GP2 getting a ton of minutes, unless one of Dame or Simons can't suit up. I think his minutes will be situational depending on matchups, knowing we will have both Hart and Little for the PG13 types.

I won't be mad at all if I'm wrong though, and GP2 becomes the 3rd part of a steady rotation with Dame and Simons... as long as they play at turbo speed for 48 minutes, which seems quite doable. I've always seen GP2 as a bit of a swiss army knife-like player that has lots of tools in his belt and can be a specialist, however you need him to be, but also has a solid all-around game.

GP2 is for sure getting 20mpg+. He wont be a 30mpg guy, but he is going to be the 3rd guard. We wouldnt have paid him if that wasnt the plan.

Hart will play mostly SF.

[BNM]

I concur. To elaborate, I feel like Dame and Anfernee have been a little spoiled in that they always had a backcourt mate that dribble, shoot, pass and finish. To my knowledge Payton is just a shooter. It's going to take Dame and Anfernee some time to get used to having to spend a pretty big hunk of time with a backcourt mate that's so offensively limited. Without that preseason time to get used to Payton's limits I'm worried that Dame and Anfernee are gonna play with Payton the way they play with the likes of CJ or Hart and that will result in a Payton being forced into situations he's not really capable of handling and that'll result in a lot more turnovers than we are used to our guards committing.

I don't think you need to worry too much ebott. I honestly don't see GP2 getting a ton of minutes, unless one of Dame or Simons can't suit up. I think his minutes will be situational depending on matchups, knowing we will have both Hart and Little for the PG13 types.

I won't be mad at all if I'm wrong though, and GP2 becomes the 3rd part of a steady rotation with Dame and Simons... as long as they play at turbo speed for 48 minutes, which seems quite doable. I've always seen GP2 as a bit of a swiss army knife-like player that has lots of tools in his belt and can be a specialist, however you need him to be, but also has a solid all-around game.

GP2 is for sure getting 20mpg+. He wont be a 30mpg guy, but he is going to be the 3rd guard. We wouldnt have paid him if that wasnt the plan.

Hart will play mostly SF.

GP2 will average over 20MPG for his defense alone. He can guard the 1 - 3 at a very high level and is easily our best on the ball defender (one of the best in the entire league). That will allow Chauncey a lot of situational/matchup options on defense, which Chauncey will love and hopefully take full advantage of.

The best part of having Payton is we can hide Dame/Ant on lesser offensive players while GP2 guards the Traes and Jas of the league. We can also put him on the Hardens, Bookers, PG13s, etc.

I think Payton + a healthy Nurk will really improve our pick and roll defense, which was always our biggest weakness in the Stotts era. Chauncey is much more of a defensive minded coach than Stotts and Cronin has given him the tools to run the defense the way he wants.

I know some posters think we overpaid for Payton, and maybe we did, a little, but he is a unique talent that is perfectly suited to what Chauncey want's to accomplish on defense. It will be nice to have a defense that isn't rated 29th in defensive efficiency.

[BlazersBroncos]

I don't think you need to worry too much ebott. I honestly don't see GP2 getting a ton of minutes, unless one of Dame or Simons can't suit up. I think his minutes will be situational depending on matchups, knowing we will have both Hart and Little for the PG13 types.

I won't be mad at all if I'm wrong though, and GP2 becomes the 3rd part of a steady rotation with Dame and Simons... as long as they play at turbo speed for 48 minutes, which seems quite doable. I've always seen GP2 as a bit of a swiss army knife-like player that has lots of tools in his belt and can be a specialist, however you need him to be, but also has a solid all-around game.

GP2 is for sure getting 20mpg+. He wont be a 30mpg guy, but he is going to be the 3rd guard. We wouldnt have paid him if that wasnt the plan.

Hart will play mostly SF.

GP2 will average over 20MPG for his defense alone. He can guard the 1 - 3 at a very high level and is easily our best on the ball defender (one of the best in the entire league). That will allow Chauncey a lot of situational/matchup options on defense, which Chauncey will love and hopefully take full advantage of.

The best part of having Payton is we can hide Dame/Ant on lesser offensive players while GP2 guards the Traes and Jas of the league. We can also put him on the Hardens, Bookers, PG13s, etc.

I think Payton + a healthy Nurk will really improve our pick and roll defense, which was always our biggest weakness in the Stotts era. Chauncey is much more of a defensive minded coach than Stotts and Cronin has given him the tools to run the defense the way he wants.

I know some posters think we overpaid for Payton, and maybe we did, a little, but he is a unique talent that is perfectly suited to what Chauncey want's to accomplish on defense. It will be nice to have a defense that isn't rated 29th in defensive efficiency.

If we ensure that he is used on offense in a similar way that GSW did, that deal will not be an overpay. GP2 isnt one of the best on-ball guard defenders in the league, he is the best. And its not that close. The guy is a absolute animal on defense.

The worry is offense.

[BNM]

GP2 is for sure getting 20mpg+. He wont be a 30mpg guy, but he is going to be the 3rd guard. We wouldnt have paid him if that wasnt the plan.

Hart will play mostly SF.

GP2 will average over 20MPG for his defense alone. He can guard the 1 - 3 at a very high level and is easily our best on the ball defender (one of the best in the entire league). That will allow Chauncey a lot of situational/matchup options on defense, which Chauncey will love and hopefully take full advantage of.

The best part of having Payton is we can hide Dame/Ant on lesser offensive players while GP2 guards the Traes and Jas of the league. We can also put him on the Hardens, Bookers, PG13s, etc.

I think Payton + a healthy Nurk will really improve our pick and roll defense, which was always our biggest weakness in the Stotts era. Chauncey is much more of a defensive minded coach than Stotts and Cronin has given him the tools to run the defense the way he wants.

I know some posters think we overpaid for Payton, and maybe we did, a little, but he is a unique talent that is perfectly suited to what Chauncey want's to accomplish on defense. It will be nice to have a defense that isn't rated 29th in defensive efficiency.

If we ensure that he is used on offense in a similar way that GSW did, that deal will not be an overpay. GP2 isnt one of the best on-ball guard defenders in the league, he is the best. And its not that close. The guy is a absolute animal on defense.

The worry is offense.

Yep, corner 3s and dunks are what GP2 gives you on offense. That means you need four other players on the floor with him that can score, including at least three that can shoot the 3.

I don't really see that as a problem for POR. One of Dame/Ant will likely always be on the floor with GP2. I also expect Grant to be a more efficient shooter than he was when he was miscast as a No. 1 option in DET. In the two seasons before he signed with DET, Grant shot .392 and .389 from deep. Hart and Little can both knock down the open 3. Sharpe is a wildcard, but I look at him as a non-factor as a rookie - anything we get from him will be a bonus.

With three other shooters on the floor, you can even play GP2 and Nurk together. Run Nurk in the high post and let him find GP2 for the corner 3s and back cuts like he used to do with Harkless. It's no coincidence that Moe had the best years of his career when he was paired with Nurk.

I like the balance of offense/defense on this roster better than anything we've seen since the Lopez/Aldridge/Batum/Matthews/Dame era, and I think this roster has more upside than that one due to the potential of multiple young players (Sharpe = 19, Walker = 20, Keon = 20, Nas = 22 and Ant still only 23).

[GEE]

Been scouring the youtube for some video clips of our training camp, hoping to see some actual basketball being played... No luck. This is a bit of a bummer, but it also shows how Chauncey went old-school on us all, and held his practices in a CLOSED environment, with no cameras or distractions.

I think I'm already starting to love the change in Chauncey, Scotty & Cronin.

[Pattycakes]

This feels to me like a “nobody will take us seriously based on names roster, but we’ll surprise everyone roster”.

I’ve been in this place before, and I feel it again.

These young guys can ball, and we are accumulating several of them.

No CJ ellebys to have panic attacks watching, or at least a strong improvement lol.

I actually look forward to seeing a bunch of youngins getting meaningful minutes in this case. Walker and possibly Keon look like studs, I think Eubanks will be solid, I like GB 3 and Watford, plenty of guards and talent there, plenty of vets with a lot to offer still.

I think 3-4 seed is a good goal. The West feels a little weak to me and top heavy, Dame always leads us well against the top echelon as is. Lfg

[GEE]

Hey, don't badmouth cj elleby... I love that guy. His dedicated effort and play on the court last season was the leading reason we did so well last year. He was our leader, The commander of our TANK. We simply could not not have done it without him. He made it look as if we were trying so hard to win, while ensuring us the L.