Trail Blazers’ defense a work in progress, but the pieces and commitment are in

Nothing the Portland Trail Blazers do during training camp should be considered more important than revamping what was the worst defense in the NBA last season.

So far, coach Chauncey Billups says he has seen signs of a potentially good defensive team during practices at the University of California Santa Barbara.

“Guys have been locked down on the defensive end,” he said. “Obviously, a lot of mistakes being made just based on coverages and communication. Just normal stuff that every team makes. But yeah, we have a lot of guys in here who enjoy playing defense.”

The team’s top two players, Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons, can only work as a winning combination in the backcourt if the rest of the team compensates for their lack of defensive prowess, allowing the duo to close out victories with their offense.

So, having a litany of players willing to give effort on defense will be imperative. Billups, during his playing days as a defensive-minded point guard in Detroit, played with four other starters who embraced defense and that helped the Pistons won the 2004 NBA championship.

These Blazers won’t be confused with that team, but they seemingly have more defensive-minded players than in recent years.

Guard/forward Josh Hart and forward Justise Winslow, acquired in trades last season, were identified as desired defenders by Billups. The team traded for forward Jerami Grant and signed free agent guard Gary Payton II. They wouldn’t be in Portland if not for their ability to play high-end defense.

That’s four new faces Billups can work with, along with forward Nassir Little, one of the team’s best defensive players last season.

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Portland Trail Blazers practice, Sept. 30, 2022

According to defensive ratings on FiveThirtyEight.com, Winslow (plus-1.8), Little (plus-1.3) and Hart (minus-0.1) had three of the Blazers’ best five ratings last season.

Weave them around Nurkic (plus-3.4), and the Blazers could have something brewing on defense.

Grant (minus-0.7) had a negative rating last season with Detroit but has had plus rankings with better teams in the past. Payton (plus-4.6), on the other hand, had the ninth-best defensive rating in the NBA last season.

The trick now is to get these pieces onto the same page and working together as a unit. Billups said this team at this point is ahead of where the Blazers were entering training camp last season because so many players have already been introduced to his concepts and expectations.

“Most of our vets, they know a lot of the things,” Billups said. “We’ve changed some things, but a lot of it is very similar. Now you’re able to just peel back layers.”

Even the younger players, Billups said, have grown quickly.

“We introduced some of the stuff in summer league,” Billups said. “They’ve been really impressive.”

That includes rookie Shaedon Sharpe, whose athleticism has allowed him to excel on defense early in camp.

“I think he’s one of those guys that’s gonna be…