There was no shortage of takeaways after Wednesday’s opening night heartbreaker; Jerami Grant’s transition to bench phenom, Deni Avdija’s slashing clinic, and Jrue Holiday’s Trail Blazers debut were chief among them.
With that said, one of the underrated stories of the night was what we didn’t see. Wednesday’s Blazers were without a handful of critical depth pieces that are meant to round out the roster, and Coach Billups had to dip a little deeper into the reserves to fill out those minutes.
One of the most surprising and tantalizing performances of the night came from newcomer Blake Wesley, who gave some exhilarating play in just 15 minutes, finishing with a -2 in a game Portland lost by four.