The NBA, and pro sports in general, don't work like school. In school, once that 3 o'clock bell rings, thoughts are as far away from campus as possible. But the NBA is different. There is no bell. You stay in the game as long as you can until you're sent home (or to Cancun). And even as you board your flight, you know good and well that the lessons aren't over — especially if you're in the basement. So what can the West's other punching bag (hi Utah) possibly take from the 2025 Conference Finals?
Homegrown talent means something.
It's been a rough few years for the Portland Trail Blazers. The transition away from any era-defining superstar is always going to be a rough ride, but two straight post-Dame Time seasons out of even striking distance from the play-in discussion is somewhere below even your traditional basement.
And yet, signs of life still abound, and a flower still waits to bloom in the Rose City. Deni Avdija has a second lease on life. Scoot Henderson, while not looking like the perennial All-Star his scouting profile projected him as a rookie, looks to be a solid running mate in the backcourt alongside Shaedon Sharpe. And according to Basketball Reference, it's actually unheralded Deandre Ayton trade "throw in" Toumani Camara who might be the most intriguing of a fascinating young core for Portland. Not a bad treasure trove of young talent — especially when Giannis is only the headliner of the list of unhappy superstars abounding in the 2025 off-season. Between their talent and war chest of draft assets (Portland owns all but one of their picks through 2030 and up to three more second-rounders in 2027), the Blazers could easily put themselves in the trading arms race with Brooklyn and San Antonio.
Except, if they're learning the right lessons from the 2025 conference finals, they should avoid it like the plague.
The four conference finals teams should show Portland the way
Let's take a step back in time. It's 2019, and you're the Los Angeles Clippers. You're riding high after beating the absolute world — who knew that a Tobias Harris-led team could crack the Playoffs in the West and take the KD/Steph Warriors to 6 games? Besides Pat Beverley, that is. On top of that, you have the opportunity to sign Kawhi Leonard, too? And Paul George off of a top-three MVP campaign? Most anyone in the 2010s would have taken on that deal, even if it meant giving up potentially seven first-round draft picks and the rookie you just took in the lottery. You have to strike while the iron is hot.
Except that rookie turned into a straight up MVP, and one of the picks you surrendered turned out to Jalen Williams, the Robin to SGA's Batman.
The tortoise beat the hare. And SGA, Jalen Williams and OKC are in the conference finals while Paul George and Kawhi have aged like milk (if milk had a lower body built like candy rocks). And OKC is only one of four teams in the 2025 conference finals. The Knicks, Pacers, and Timberwolves are also paragons of patience and proper team building. The 2010s are long past, and the "Big Three" era with it. Simply throwing your money at a marquee name will not guarantee a Finals berth or championship. If the past few years have been any indication, the NBA's dream of parity in its new age is already fulfilled, and the best teams are patient, well thought out and sustainable plans for their money and time.
By all means, if the Blazers are wanting to simply sell tickets en route to a few ESPN or Fox Sports features while fast-forwarding a first or second round exit, they can enter the sweepstakes for Giannis, Booker, Trae Young or whoever else with a 9-figure salary is looking for greener pastures.
But the last four of the 2025 Finals hopefuls all have one thing in common: their leaders, whether drafted or acquired early in their careers, have been allowed to grow naturally into who they are today, while the perfect complementary pieces were built around them.
Tyrese is a modern Steve Nash. Give him a bunch of slashers and shooters with the HOF Microwave Badge and make the team run. SGA and Jalen Brunson are foul merchants, killer in the clutch, and mid-range wizards. Give them young, hungry, and mean supporting casts. Ant is the latest Jordan clone, so give him vets and a stout defensive back line.
Portland needs to stay patient with its young prospect
I know that the most potential that anyone on your team has shown has been shown in flashes only. But the basketball gods have made their will clear: superstar plug-and-play is not the name of the game anymore, and Portland doesn't have the infrastructure to properly support a current marquee name, much less keep them happy. And let's not talk about how much worse the team around them would be, depending on what Portland would have to give up to get them.
But if you're paying attention in class, you'll see that OKC, Minnesota, Indiana, and New York are deeply intimate with the league basement. They knew the risks of betting on their young talent, and it worked, much to the chagrin of the trade partners they fleeced. So, Portland, if you're going to wheel and deal in the off-season, let go of mid. Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton can go.
In fact, if there's anyone you shouldn't have already given an extension to, it's Chauncey Billups. But that's a different story.