Portland Trail Blazers
Trying to appease Damian Lillard has been a goal of the Portland Trail Blazers this offseason amidst all the trade rumors that he could be leaving Portland soon, but the Blazers’ front office really did not do much to help themselves.
With C.J. McCollum and Jusef Nurkic healthy to begin the year, the Trail Blazers should definitely be better than they were during the 2020-21 season, but their secondary talent is still a question mark.
Bringing in Larry Nance Jr. was a solid move for this team in the offseason, as was bringing back Norman Powell on a new contract, but Cody Zeller, Ben McLemore, and Tony Snell really are not players to get too excited about.
Portland can provide this team with production here and there, but they are not consistent players in the sense that they can make the Trail Blazers a true title contender.
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It will be interesting to see what potential moves the Trail Blazers make during the 2021-22 season to add more talent to their roster, but before then, they still have two open roster spots to utilize should they like to.
Dennis Smith Jr., Marquese Chriss, and Patrick Patterson have all signed training camp deals with the team, so two of these three guys could very well earn a roster spot for the season, but James Ennis III remains a possible free-agent target, as does Avery Bradley.
Behind both Lillard and McCollum, the Trail Blazers do not have much overall depth and defensively, Portland really struggled last year.
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Bringing in Bradley may not be a terrible idea at all for Portland not only because of his championship experience but because he has always been known to be a tough-minded perimeter defender at either guard spot.
If he is willing to play for them, the Trail Blazers could definitely benefit from a veteran player like Avery Bradley being in their backcourt. Jeff Teague also remains a possible backcourt option as well, but Bradley is definitely the best two-way guard they could sign.
We can throw in Isaiah Thomas’ name as well as a realistic option for them to add another experienced guard to their backcourt.
