TUALATIN — When Jrue Holiday gathered an inbound pass and charged toward the other end of the floor in the closing seconds of the Portland Trail Blazers’ Fan Fest, he immediately encountered a 6-foot-3, 185-pound shadow.
The speedy two-time NBA All-Star couldn’t shake the shadow as he approached halfcourt, narrowly avoiding an eight-second violation.
He couldn’t shake the shadow as he navigated around perimeter screens.
He couldn’t shake the shadow as the final buzzer approached and his team stared at a one-point deficit.
But then, with only seconds left, Holiday finally wiggled away from the shadow, darting into the paint, unleashing a Euro Step and swishing a left-handed floater to deliver a 43-42 win for Team Black.
Two days later, the shadow — teammate Blake Wesley — was still steaming about the play.
“I can’t believe he hit that shot,” an incredulous Wesley said Monday afternoon at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin. “I can’t believe it. It was good defense, though. He was like, ‘Man, you’re going to make me get in shape.’ So that’s what I’m here for. I’m going to help him get better, he’s going to help me get better. That’s what it’s all about.”
But after a week of training camp, Wesley isn’t merely making teammates better, he’s also fighting for a spot in the Blazers’ opening night rotation. The pre-camp hamstring injury that will sideline Scoot Henderson multiple weeks has opened up an unexpected spot at backup point guard and, by all accounts, Wesley is in the thick of the race to land the role.
While most figured Billups would turn to a mix of veteran playmakers — including Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe — to soak up Henderson’s minutes, the Blazers’ coach seems enamored with the idea of using a more traditional backup point guard instead. And, so far, he likes what he’s seen from the last man the Blazers signed over the summer.
“He’s doing a good job,” Billups said of Wesley. “He really has been playing his butt off.”
It turns out, the last, frenzied possession of Fan Fest was but a taste of what Wesley has been bringing behind the scenes in training camp.
The speed. The in-your-face full-court pressure. The tenacity. They’ve all been Wesley staples during his brief time in Portland.
“He’s very fast,” Blazers forward Toumani Camara said. “I really like the way he plays. Defensively, he’s a menace. Plays really hard, guards 94-feet like I do. And his intensity never stops. I think his level of energy is always at a high level. He tries to make the right play all the time, is a very good driver.
“Man, I love Blake.”
That he has become one of the more intriguing subplots of training camp, however, was not expected.
The San Antonio Spurs selected Wesley with the No. 25 overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft and in the second game of his career, he suffered a torn left MCL. Wesley missed roughly three months, stalling his rookie season, and things only devolved from there. Over the next two summers, the Spurs bolstered their backcourt with veterans Chris Paul and De’Aaron Fox, drafted Dylan Harper, then traded Wesley to the Washington Wizards.
The helter-skelter summer sent Blake into a funk.
“It was my first time getting traded,” he said. “I was sad, man. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know my next move. Signed with the Wizards, was there for four days, got waived, then I got picked up. My whole summer was chaotic. It was a little depressing.”
Amid the gloom, Wesley focused on the grind.
He said he lived in the gym, stayed close to his family and prayed for better days. They arrived with a new opportunity in Portland. Wesley’s camp sought out a buyout from the Wizards, in part, so he could chase a chance to play in Portland, according to a league source. And the Blazers, intrigued by his defense, speed and upside, pounced on the opportunity.
The dramatic ordeal offered the 22-year-old a valuable lesson about the NBA.
“I got traded, now I know it’s really a business,” he said. “I never knew it would happen to me early in my career. They drafted me. But at the end of the day, I’m here. I’m excited to be a Portland Trail Blazer and I’m excited to get started for the season.”
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Wesley flashed plenty of potential in San Antonio, scoring in double figures 19 times and recording at least seven assists nine times. He produced 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a win over Detroit in 2024, and added 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds in a win over Dallas in 2023.
But when he arrived in Portland, Billups didn’t sugarcoat the truth. Wesley was joining a roster featuring a future Hall of Fame point guard, a former No. 3 overall draft pick at point guard and plenty of versatile ballhandlers.
Most likely, Billups warned, Wesley would occupy a seat at the end of the bench. Behind the scenes, though, he would be asked to work.
Billups told Wesley he wanted him to push the ball “like crazy” on offense, apply relentless full-court pressure on defense and bring a change of pace to both ends of the floor.
“These guys know, I don’t lie to them,” Billups said. “He understood and knew what his role could possibly be before he got here. He knew that if Jrue and Scoot are healthy, chances are he’s not going to play for a week or two at a time. Who knows? And he respected my honesty on that. … He’s a young guy in his league trying to find himself, (which is) something I know a little bit about.”
Wesley said he’s still adjusting to his new role and the physicality of the Blazers’ style — “This is the most physical team I’ve ever been with,” he said — but, steadily, he’s making the adjustment.
And now, unexpectedly, the last man signed to the Blazers’ regular 15-man roster has a shot at landing a spot in the opening night rotation.
“I feel like (this is) a new opportunity,” Wesley said. “It’s a new opportunity to refresh and start over going to year four.
“I just (need to) be myself. Don’t try to be nothing else. Play defense, get guys shots and do what the team asks me to do.”