The Portland Trail Blazers have the dubious distinction of trotting out the worst offensive lineup in the league.
According to Cleaning the Glass (subscription required), the 80.5 points per 100 possessions scored by Portland’s five-player lineup of Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara, Jerami Grant, and Donovan Clingan is far and away the lowest of any lineup with more than 100 possessions played. The next-worst lineup (unsurprisingly from the Washington Wizards) manages to score nearly seven points more per 100 possessions 87.3. The leaguewide average is 114.2, down slightly from a record high last year.
Why is this lineup so uniquely unqualified to score? Free throws (or a lack thereof) are partially to blame. This lineup shoots an embarrassing 5.3 free throws per 100 possessions. Not trips to the line: free throws. That may not be a big surprise for anyone familiar with how Simons, Sharpe, and company play: Grant’s 5.3 free throws per 100 possessions (his lowest rate since 2020 in Denver) leads the group, so it’s almost a miracle they hit that number collectively. Simons, never one to get to the line much, has slipped to 4.1 after a career high of around five and a half last year. And all of Sharpe, Camara, and Clingan are worse.
Not to be left out, Portland also has the NBA’s sixth-worst offensive lineup (93.6 points per 100 possessions) in Simons, Sharpe, Camara, Grant, and Deandre Ayton.
On the flip side, Portland has the NBA’s second-best defensive lineup: The Simons, Camara, Deni Avdija, Grant, and Clingan lineup allows a scant 81.8 points per 100 possessions, holding opponents to 39.9% shooting (also league-leading) and harassing them into turning the ball over 20.8% of the time, well above the league’s 14.4% average. And a mediocre offense (at the 55% percentile) is enough - combined with that defense - to have a +36.1 point differential per 100 possessions.
Does this mean swapping Deni Avdija for Shaedon Sharpe makes the Blazers a contender? No. But it goes to show how important Avdija’s (young) veteran presence is to a young team, and helps explain why the Blazers are 1-5 without him.