{"id":180018,"date":"2026-03-05T12:15:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=180018"},"modified":"2026-03-05T12:15:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:15:58","slug":"how-blazers-veterans-can-lead-postseason-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/03\/05\/how-blazers-veterans-can-lead-postseason-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Blazers&#8217; Veterans Can Lead The Postseason Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Portland Trail Blazers have a talented group of young players, but the experienced ones are still good. The Blazers&#8217; veterans could contribute toward the postseason push. With <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidjr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jrue Holiday<\/a>&#8216;s leadership and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grantje01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jerami Grant<\/a>&#8216;s impact, they could continue working toward a spot in the playoffs.<\/p>\n<h2>How The Blazers&#8217; Veterans Can Lead The Postseason Charge<\/h2>\n<p>Over the past few months, the Portland Trail Blazers have mostly relied on their younger players. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/avdijde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deni Avdija<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sharpsh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaedon Sharpe<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clingdo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donovan Clingan<\/a> are all in their 20s. The Blazers have quite a young roster, but they do have some experienced players on the squad.<\/p>\n<p>The Blazers&#8217; veterans include Holiday and Grant, who are <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/16\/the-trail-blazers-continue-to-find-jerami-grants-impact\/\" target=\"_self\">tremendously talented players<\/a>. Of course, they are not as young as their teammates, but they still make an impact quite frequently. This was most prominent in their most recent win against the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n<h3>The Blazers&#8217; Veterans Continue to be Influential<\/h3>\n<p>Basketball is mostly a young man&#8217;s game, but veterans are always valuable. Most of the time, they are the most level-headed players on the court. Considering the Trail Blazers are playing in high-pressure games all the time, the veterans matter.<\/p>\n<p>Holiday is a 17-year NBA veteran, so his experience is quite valuable. He serves as a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/31\/the-growing-importance-of-veteran-jrue-holidays-blazers-role\/\" target=\"_self\">leader for all the young players on the team<\/a>, headlined by Sharpe and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hendesc01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scoot Henderson<\/a>. Moving forward, Holiday will continue to be a productive member of the team and a voice in the locker room.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jrue Holiday was OUTSTANDING in Portland&#39;s road win \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n<p>35 PTS (13-19 FGM)<br \/>5 REB<br \/>11 AST<br \/>8 3PM (ties career-high) <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vy2GxZPfVY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/vy2GxZPfVY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/2029404708381601829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The same goes for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a>, who is not playing at the moment. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/07\/18\/damian-lillard-blazers-reunion\/\" target=\"_self\">he makes an impact as a leader<\/a> in the locker room and on the bench. When\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">you look at the bench,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/13\/damian-lillard-still-matters-as-the-trail-blazers-cheerleader\/\" target=\"_self\">Lillard is always there<\/a>, teaching<\/span>\u00a0his younger teammates.<\/p>\n<p>Acting head coach Tiago Splitter is lucky to have all types of veterans on his roster. Holiday, Lillard, and Grant are the 30-something players the younger Blazers respect. However, they do have more veterans like <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/williro04.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Williams III<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thybuma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matisse Thybulle<\/a> who also play key roles for Portland.<\/p>\n<h3>Holiday&#8217;s Leadership Can Boost The Team&#8217;s Success<\/h3>\n<p>Among the many Portland-based veterans, Holiday is the most experienced one. At the same time, he is also quite successful with his two championships with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n<p>He is a locker room leader for the Blazers, which matters in a postseason chase. Holiday&#8217;s leadership will be a deciding factor because the team will follow what he does. Considering Lillard is inactive due to his injury, Holiday will be the most respected player on the court.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jrue Holiday, the Blazer!<\/p>\n<p>He&#39;s ready to bring his vet leadership to Rip City \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yqHgglvjky\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yqHgglvjky<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1972744546867200357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With his experience, the Blazers know they have a reliable leader. He will be the most impactful player not only because of his numbers, but also for his influence. Henderson, Sharpe, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cissosi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sidy Cissoko<\/a>, and other young players have all learned from Holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Splitter trusts Holiday, which will be an important point in the future. As long as he is on the floor or even on the bench, he will have an impact. The most <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/12\/jrue-holidays-return-matters-for-the-blazers-playoff-hopes\/\" target=\"_self\">level-headed players thrive in a high-pressure postseason charge<\/a>, and Holiday is the right player to have.<\/p>\n<h3>Grant&#8217;s Impact Is Still Valuable For The Blazers<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 800px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBISEUWztr\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3072px; aspect-ratio: 3072\/2275;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Apart from Holiday, Grant is also an important player for Portland despite <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/23\/blazers-chauncey-billups-found-optimal-jerami-grant-role\/\" target=\"_self\">being a sixth man earlier in the season<\/a>. That changed because of the Blazers&#8217; constant injury struggles, making him a starter again.<\/p>\n<p>Grant has not missed a beat because he continues to be one of Portland&#8217;s best offensive players. He is averaging 18.8 points per game while shooting 37.7% from beyond the arc. The last bit is important because the Blazers are starving for shooters, and Grant is arguably the most reliable one.<\/p>\n<p>He is also a capable isolation scorer, which is important because of Sharpe and Avdija&#8217;s absences. With the Blazers&#8217; veterans like Holiday and Grant, the offense does not take a massive dip. Of course, Sharpe and Avdija are the stars, but the veterans are stepping up when needed.<\/p>\n<p>Splitter&#8217;s Blazers would want to keep fighting for that postseason spot. Grant&#8217;s impact will be important, especially with the Blazers&#8217; offense continuing to struggle. As long as everyone plays their role well, Portland could be a surprising team in the postseason.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a9 Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Portland Trail Blazers have a talented group of young players, but the experienced ones are still good. The Blazers&#8217; veterans could contribute toward the postseason push. With Jrue Holiday&#8216;s leadership and Jerami Grant&#8216;s impact, they could continue working toward a spot in the playoffs. How The Blazers&#8217; Veterans Can Lead The Postseason Charge Over [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5385,"featured_media":180046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,23],"tags":[187,2831,49145,1628,239,4600,48956],"class_list":["post-180018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-trailblazers","tag-damian-lillard","tag-deni-avdija","tag-donovan-clingan","tag-jerami-grant","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-shaedon-sharpe","tag-sidy-cissoko"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180018"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":180048,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180018\/revisions\/180048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}