Does this trade make sense for the Portland Trail Blazers?

The Portland Trail Blazers must add talent on the defensive-end of the floor this offseason if they are to improve as a team, which is why adding Ben Simmons makes sense. Scoring is obviously the name of the game, especially in today’s NBA, but you still need to be able to defend at a high-level. 

Both the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, the two teams who made the NBA Finals this year, were two of the better defensive teams in the league this season and them making The Finals is not a coincidence. 

Adding Ben Simmons to their roster makes sense for Portland only because of how good he can still be. While he is definitely a project since he is not much of a contributor on offense, with time, Simmons can easily reach his full potential as a two-way star in this league. 

At 7-feet tall with the athleticism that he possesses, there is no reason why Ben Simmons can not at least be a major threat in terms of attacking the basket on offense, which is why he could thrive in Portland. Damian Lillard is one of the best scorers in the league, but he is also very good at playing pick-and-roll basketball. 

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Getting Ben Simmons involved as the screener in pick-and-roll sets with Lillard not only allows the All-Star guard to do his thing, but Lillard is a fantastic passer who could easily throw lobs up to Simmons diving to the rim. Making him more of a forward than a guard could be a very beneficial thing for Ben Simmons and his career trajectory, especially since the Trail Blazers already have Damian Lillard as their primary ball-handler. 

Losing CJ McCollum definitely hurts the Trail Blazers’ overall offensive production, but scoring can be replaced. Finding a two-way threat who is 7-feet tall like Ben Simmons does not happen every day, which is why Portland should be thrilled with the idea of adding him at the cost of McCollum.