Blazers Young Star Has Been 'Cooking' Jrue Holiday in Camp

Sep 29, 2025; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) during media day at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

A week into training camp, the Portland Trail Blazers fast numerous roster questions.

Though third-year point guard Scoot Henderson had been expected to compete for a starting role on this year's squad, an injury may have inadvertently demoted him back to the bench — at least to tip off the 2025-26 NBA season.

While the emergence of young forwards Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara may have reconfigured the Trail Blazers' team-building priorities, a rising backcourt talent appears to be finding his footing at last, if early returns are to be believed.

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Per Casey Hodahl of Blazers.com, one young, extension-eligible guard has been a particular standout thus far in training camp.

“Shaedon, man, I think everybody kind of knows the talent that he is and what he can do,” new signing Jrue Holiday raved about fourth-year shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe.

“But boy, he can hoop," Holiday added. "He's been cooking me.”

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The 6-foot-6 pro's efforts have not gone unnoticed by his head coach, a Hall of Fame former NBA guard in his own right.

“Shaedon has been playing really well,” Chauncey Billups said. “He's been practicing really well. I think he's doing good on both sides of the ball right now. Offensively, he's in a really nice rhythm. He's getting where he wants to go with the ball, even against our pressure. We pressure, we’re very physical. So he's been good.”

Holiday was acquired from the Boston Celtics in a trade of Portland's last starting point guard, Anfernee Simons. The 35-year-old has three seasons and $104.4 million remaining on his contract, meaning he'll be under team control two years long than Simons had been. A six-time All-Defensive Teamer, Holiday should bring leadership and professionalism to this young backcourt unit of Henderson and Sharpe.

Sharpe, 22, is eligible for a rookie-scale contract extension before October 6. He has shown appetizing flashes during his first few years with Portland, but has struggled with consistency and his long range jumper.

In 72 healthy games for the 36-46 Trail Blazers last year, Sharpe averaged 18.5 points on .452/.311/.785 shooting splits (he took 6.6 triple tries a night to nab that 31.1 percent rate), 4.5 boards, 2.8 dimes and 0.9 steals per.

For more news and notes on the Portland Trail Blazers, visit Portland Trail Blazers on SI.