London hoops star Shaedon Sharpe’s NBA season, so far

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His season debut was delayed, but Shaedon Sharpe is off to the best start in his three-year National Basketball Association career.

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The 21-year-old Londoner has averaged 18.0 points with a 43.1 per cent field goal percentage in 11 games to lead the Portland Trail Blazers’ lineup since his return from injury. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard with big hops suffered a small tear in his left shoulder in the preseason and sat out eight regular-season games after missing the end of his sophomore season with an abdomen issue.

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Sharpe scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting in a 106-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Nov. 13. He followed that performance with 32 points against Atlanta four days later. The former Beal Raider has been an offensive bright spot for the low-scoring Blazers, who have limped to a 7-12 start.

The seventh overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft is averaging 29.5 minutes of floor time per game for Portland head coach Chauncey Billups. Last year, Sharpe scored 15.9 points per game in 33.1 minutes over 32 contests and had 9.9 points per game in 22.2 minutes over 80 games in his 2022-23 rookie campaign.

Sharpe won a city championship as a Grade 8 basketball star with Stoney Creek elementary school, then played a single season of local high school hoops with the Beal Raiders before moving on to schools in Kansas and Arizona for the rest of his high school career.

He later signed on to play with NCAA Kentucky but opted into the NBA draft before playing a single game for the Wildcats.

Sharpe has already made a name for himself around the NBA with his keen court vision and his ability to convert monstrous dunks. He is hoping to lead the Blazers to the playoffs – a feat the hoops club hasn’t achieved since the 2020-21 season.

He will be back in action Friday at home against the Sacramento Kings.

rpyette@postmedia.com

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