What Will Really Define Success For the Trail Blazers 2023-24 Season

PORTLAND, OREGON – JANUARY 14: Shaedon Sharpe #17 of the Portland Trail Blazers is greeted by children as he makes his way to the court before the game against the Dallas Mavericks at Moda Center on January 14, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

750 THE GAME STAFF

The Trail Blazers will play their first game post-Damian Lillard on Wednesday night visiting the LA Clippers.

Their win total is 28.5. The team is young. Their are new faces like Scoot Henderson and returning faces with upside like Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe. There may not be many victories, but there is optimism.

“Here’s how I’m going to judge the Blazers season,” John Canzano said Wednesday on 750 The Game. “I’m not going to go on wins and losses. You can’t set that as the primary objective because it just sets the season up for failure and I don’t want to start that way, because I want to be fair to the organization.

“As a baseline, I want to see kids in the Portland/metropolitan area and kids in the state of Oregon and southern Washington wearing Blazers jerseys by the February trade deadline. We all know there’s front-runners out there — I want some kids to be excited about what they see on the court. I want to see some Shaedon Sharpe jerseys. I want to see some Scoot Henderson jerseys.”

The anecdotal evidence this year with the Blazers and the fanbase will be more telling than the team’s actual record, said Canzano.

“You can take the temperature on how the Blazers are doing, not just by the season-ticket numbers or by tuning into a game or looking at the standings. I can tell by driving down the street and seeing how many kids I see who are wearing t-shirts, caps and jerseys who want to be associated with it.”

A lot goes in to a kid wanting a jersey of his favorite player on his favorite team. With so many Lillard jerseys being sold through the years, which young Blazers star will be next to see Rip City youth want his jersey?

“I want to see Scoot Henderson. I want to see Shaedon Sharpe. I want to see Anfernee Simons,” continued Canzano. “You’ll see some Damian Lillard jerseys showing up in the Goodwill all of a sudden, because that’s what happens. But I want to see some of those new names on the back of jerseys and kids walking around, soaking it in that way.”

The Trail Blazers open the season on Wednesday night visiting the Los Angeles Clippers as a 9-pt betting underdog.

Listen to Canzano’s comments in the opening segment of the show podcast below.

John Canzano delivers the Bald Faced Truth afternoons 3-6 p.m. exclusively in Portland on 750 The Game.