The Portland Trail Blazers were hoping to have a strong season in 2022-23 after taking a gap year last season due to Damian Lillard taking time off to recover from injuries. They made big trades that allowed them to get key rotational players like Josh Hart and Jerami Grant on the roster for this season. They also drafted Shaedon Sharpe with the 7th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
The team has struggled to get a rhythm due to injuries throughout the season and is trying to secure a playoff spot. The trade market may bring the Blazers some relief, but they are likely to not trade their best asset in young guard Anfernee Simons, according to Chris Haynes.
“From what I’ve heard all season, not anything recently but all season from Portland is that Anfernee is pretty close to untouchable. This is not anything I’ve heard in the last two weeks, I will say that. Things can always change, but Anfernee is not being put out there. With that being said, if the right move came where it would enhance the prospects of this roster contending by adding more experience as well along with talent, I think Portland has to explore that.”
Simons is a nice future piece for the Blazers but does a backcourt with him and Damian Lillard elevate them to title contenders? We have already seen Lillard fail with an undersized guard in C.J. McCollum, so we know how this pairing can put a ceiling on what the Blazers can achieve.
Can This Era Of The Blazers Return To Contention?
They’ve been trying to give Lillard a championship-winning core for over a decade and haven’t succeeded. Maybe the time for Portland to blow up their roster is coming sooner than ever. If they do that, Simons might as well be untouchable alongside Shaedon Sharpe as their duo of the future.
A rebuild means the Blazers will do right by Lillard and send him to whichever team he wants to go to next, given his new contract. If they intend to retool and give it another go, Simons is the only player that can get them a difference-making asset. Whether anyone like that is out there on the market for the Blazers is another question, but the options are looking slim.
Lillard deserves a squad capable of contending and the Blazers have tried their best to provide that. It hasn’t worked and this season, it’s looking like it isn’t working once again.
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