Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard has verbally stated that the Portland Trail Blazers are not a championship contender, amidst rumors that he is on the brink of wanting out of Portland, so what do they do? They go out and not only lock-up Norman Powell on a five-year, $90M deal, but they bring in Cody Zeller, Tony Snell and Ben McLemore. 

I have nothing against Powell, Zeller, Snell or McLemore, as they are all solid players in their own rights, but I do not see how this is supposed to help the Trail Blazers to convince Damian Lillard to say, “You know what, this team is now a contender!” 

The moves GM Neil Olshey has made all offseason long are very puzzling and he could very much be getting ready to start over in Portland. There is no way Damian Lillard is going to wind up staying with this Trail Blazers team unless they add another All-Star-level talent and that doesn’t seem realistic anymore. They were in discussion with the 76ers on a potential Ben Simmons deal earlier in the offseason, but trade talks have fallen off between the two teams. 

All the moves the Portland Trail Blazers have made thus far are decent moves to fill needs on their team, but none of these moves make them a better team than they were during the 2020-21 season. They will once again be a team that finishes as a low-end playoff team in the Western Conference and given how good the West usually is, they could very well have to earn their playoff spot through the play-in tournament! 

READ MORE: Predictions for NBA Trade Rumors: Simmons, Lillard, Hield, Ingles, Siakam

The future is not bright for the Portland Trail Blazers and they have definitely had one of the more disappointing offseason and free agency periods out of any team in the league. Keep an eye on them in NBA trade rumors as the trade deadline approaches.