The mindset of the Blazers is made well documented in the NBA world. They want to build a championship-caliber team around Damian Lillard, yet again. The need to maximize on the ‘Prime Time Dame Time’ is at an all-time high.
There are 2 ways to acquire players, via trade and free agency. With the CJ McCollum trade, the Blazers have made the possibility to pull off either, extremely plausible.
Here are 3 players who would fit well around Damian Lillard and could be available for trade:
Julius Randle to Portland?:
If you could name one player that hates where he is playing right now, Julius Randle would be the name on everyone’s tongue. After being the winner of the MIP award last season, his play has taken a very inconsistent turn. He’s averaging 19 points per game, a drop from last season.
https://twitter.com/BackShotSports/status/1491182198333984769?s=20&t=u1TZExxl_4-EJWQZwVcaiQ
The Knicks are closer to the bottom than they are to the 8th seed. One night Randle could score 30+ points and the next he would struggle to score in double digits. He’s also had very visible chemistry issues with the staff. A change of scenery and teammates might get him back to his All-star days of -yesteryear and also if he continues to be inconsistent Damian Lillard can pick up the offensive slack on those days.
James Harden and Damian Lillard?:
James Harden will be a free agent this off-season and with how badly strained the relationship between him and the Nets is, re-signing there seems nearly impossible. We’ve seen James Harden play around many superstars like Dwight, KD, Westbrook, Kyrie, etc. But the only time we have seen him thrive was when he played with Chris Paul.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1491109560140316672?s=20&t=u1TZExxl_4-EJWQZwVcaiQ
Damian Lillard would be a huge upgrade over Paul. They also have the money to sign him to a Max contract and would still have money and assets left over to get better pieces around the 2 of them. This would also see Harden come back to the West where he was always an MVP candidate and have a reliable and durable co-star next to him. If they do this, however, they are publicly stating that winning is all riding on their offense.
Ben Simmons’ Defense with Damian Lillard’s Offence?:
The Philadelphia 76ers have been trying to get rid of Ben Simmons for a long time now. That means the Blazers could get him without having to give up too much in the process. As we have seen, the Trail Blazers have one of the worst defenses in the league. Partly because of having a small backcourt.
The nine teams to register some level of interest in Ben Simmons:
Atlanta Hawks
Cleveland Cavaliers
Toronto Raptors
Indiana Pacers
Detroit Pistons
Minnesota Timberwolves
Sacramento Kings
Portland Trailblazers
Washington Wizards(Via @KyleNeubeck ) pic.twitter.com/kwkQ9hvMgI
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 6, 2022
Ben Simmons may not be a scorer. The word scorer is not at all something you would want to associate Ben with. But what he can do extremely well is defend. With Billups as the coach, who was known for being a part of the gritty defensive Piston teams, Ben Simmons could excel in his role as a defender.
Putting an All-Defensive team level player next to an All-NBA level player and no one could say that this team would not get better. However, we have yet to see Simmons play this season and that might mean that Portland would be trading for an unknown commodity.
