Portland Trail Blazers: Ranking the Top 5 Blazers under 25
Rob Ryan
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The Portland Trail Blazers roster is in transition. With less than a month until the 2022-23 NBA season starts, we rank the Top 5 Blazers under 25.
Rip City is undergoing a youth movement. One of new Portland Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin’s goals the last half year was to stock the roster with young talent.
Among all the players attending Blazers training camp this week, only Damian Lillard is over 30 years old (32). That’s quite a big change from last season when over a quarter of the opening day roster was 30 or older.
As a matter of fact, half of the 2022-23 Portland Trail Blazers opening night roster will be 23 or younger. The team has tons of potential, just waiting for their shot at the big time. Who will be Portland’s next breakout player? Let’s look at the Blazers’ Top 5 Under 25.
Honorable Mention
Greg Brown III – 21 years old
The 6’7” power forward averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game. At times Greg Brown III wowed fans with his dunking ability and raw athleticism. Raw is the big word there.
His body placement and footing need work. Maybe it was a confidence problem or just the young player’s jitters, but Brown seemed lost on the court at times.
Jabari Walker (20 years old)
Jabari Walker came close to cracking the Top 5 after his strong showing in the summer league. His size and all-around solid play could vault the former University of Colorado standout into a more significant role as the season presses on.
If given minutes, his rebounding ability and floor spacing would mesh well with both starters and bench units. Walker was selected with the next to last pick in the 2022 draft, but he could wind up as one of its biggest steals.
Jabari Walker made his two-way impact felt with a 14 PTS + 11 REBS double-double to go with 3 STLS + 2 BLKS in 27 MINS to help the Blazers capture the Summer League title in Las Vegas. It appears obvious Walker should not have fallen all the way to the 57th pick in the 2022 draft pic.twitter.com/BvobbTKgkX
— DraftExpressContent (@DXContent) July 17, 2022