Tips: Yang Hansen& Sharp& Avdija needs shooters around him. This is the team s biggest shortcoming

On October 12, Trail Blazers reporter Reese Kunz published an article talking about the Trail Blazers' lack of shooting ability. The following is the full content.

The Portland Trail Blazers got off to a good start at home with a 124-123 victory over the Sacramento Kings in the preseason. They shot just 10-for-37 from beyond the arc (27.0%), which is clearly still a concern and could continue to plague them throughout the regular season.

In their previous loss to the Golden State Warriors, they performed slightly better from three-point range, shooting 16 of 48 (33.3%). However, this number is still below the league average. For reference, the Trail Blazers shot 34.2% from three-point range last season, ranking fifth from the bottom in the NBA. The previous season, their three-point shooting percentage was 34.5%, ranking last. While this is only a small sample size of a few games, the preseason has shown that the Blazers got worse in a key area where they were already terrible.

The lack of shooters hinders the Blazers' short- and long-term goals. This summer, the Blazers' core theme is strengthening their defense. They traded Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday, losing a guard who shot 38.1 percent from three in his career and took a lot of shots (6.5 per game). General manager Joe Cronin believes that despite Holiday's decline, he is still a more impactful combo guard than Simmons. More importantly, the Blazers are still adopting a long-term rebuilding strategy. They brought in Holiday because they hoped his veteran experience would help the growth of their young core.

While these reasons may seem reasonable, the lack of shooting ability on the Trail Blazers' current roster does them no favors. If the Blazers continue to shoot like they have over the past two seasons, it will be difficult for them to end their four-year playoff drought in a star-studded Western Conference. Without reliable outside shooting, they won't be able to optimize the development of their young core in the long term.

Yang Hansen needs a shooter to become the best passer. Sharpe, Scooter Henderson and Avdija all need space to penetrate opponents. Head coach Chauncey Billups also wants the team to push the tempo, but that will be difficult if they don't have a shooter to spread the floor. To some extent, the Blazers can solve this problem by developing internally. For example, Sharp is expected to improve on his 31% three-point shooting percentage from last season. However, the Blazers won't be able to achieve their goals until they bring in dedicated shooters from the outside.

In a league that pays more and more attention to three-pointers, the lack of shooters is an Achilles' heel of the Trail Blazers. It also makes one wonder why this weakness wasn't taken more seriously this summer.