The Portland Trail Blazers are looking at a big bounce-back season after a disappointing 2021-22 season where the franchise decided to tank the season because of an injury to star Damian Lillard. They traded away Dame’s longtime co-star CJ McCollum and prepared to have roster flexibility this offseason. They have retooled by adding Jerami Grant and drafting Shaedon Sharpe.
Josh Hart, who joined the Blazers in the trade to send McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans, has seen the murmurings of a league-wide tank to acquire Victor Wembanyama. With people having doubts about the Blazers’ chances to contend this season, Hart has dismissed speculation of the franchise tanking for a better shot at drafting Wembanyama.
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A team with a healthy Damian Lillard will never decide to call quits on a season because of a prospect. However, if Lillard is to get hurt again, the Blazers may be better off bottoming out for a shot at a generational big man like Wembanyama to pair with Lillard through the second half of his career.
Will The Portland Trail Blazers Be In A Position To Contend?
Everybody knows that the goal for the Blazers is to bring Damian Lillard a championship. However, it is very hard to buy this current core of the Blazers squad as legitimate contenders. Most projections have the Blazers fighting for a play-in position, with their best-case scenario being the 6th seed.
With teams around the league tanking for Wembanyama, if Portland is determined to not join that race, they could easily make moves in the trade market with teams looking to trade their good players for draft assets or roster flexibility.
For Lillard’s sake, we hope that his loyalty to Portland is rewarded with a good season. They have the makings of a strong core, but it still looks like it is a few pieces away from putting the Blazers in a position to make a run at the title.
