There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the Portland Trail Blazers recently. Following the firing of general manager and president of basketball operations, Neil Olshey, for workplace behavior and toxic environment, people are wondering where the franchise goes from here ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
Portland is currently on the outside looking in for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference. They are reeling, as they have lost seven consecutive games as injuries have plagued the team.
Damian Lillard has battled an abdominal injury, while CJ McCollum suffered a collapsed lung. Without their top two scorers in the lineup, they are struggling mightily as they do not have a good defense to fall back on.
Some moves have to be made soon if the Trail Blazers want any hope of making a run to the postseason. They are going to be looking to make some moves, as interim general manager Joe Cronin is auditioning for the full-time job.
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One player who will not be on the move is Lillard. According to Brian Windhorst, during a recent episode of The Hoop Collective podcast, he shared that everyone on Portland’s roster outside of Lillard is available.
“I talked to an executive this week who told me every single Portland Trail Blazer is available, with the exception of Dame,” Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast (around the 47-minute mark).
While trading Damian Lillard would bring back the biggest haul in a return trade package, that does not sound like a road the franchise is ready to travel yet. Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic are the two names that have been mentioned most frequently. Both are on expiring contracts.
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Larry Nance Jr. is receiving a lot of attention as well, but he has been the Portland Trail Blazers’ most consistent player this season and would cost a decent amount to pry out of town. Portland should be looking for some help on the defensive side of the ball, as the presence of new head coach Chauncey Billups has done very little to turn things around on that end of the court.
