Does this trade make sense for the Portland Trail Blazers?
No team should ever have the mindset that they want to trade away their best player, but Portland is kind of in a tough spot right now. They are not bettering themselves on paper as a franchise and with Damian Lillard already being unhappy and wanting to win, there is very little that GM Neil Olshey can do right at the moment.
Lillard and McCollum really are the only two valuable assets on this roster right now and with virtually no draft capital, the Trail Blazers find themselves in a “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” situation. They will vastly decline as a franchise if they were to give up Lillard, but if they do not make a move, they could be in an even worse situation if someone’s value was to decline during the season.
This really is not a good situation to be in as a franchise and seeing as they have no means to be able to drastically improve their chances of being a real threat in the Western Conference, Damian Lillard could already have one foot out the door in Portland. He has made his intentions of wanting to win there clear, but at the end of the day, there is only so much losing in the postseason that a player of Lillard’s caliber can take.
Joining a “superteam” and taking the “easy way out” is not something Damian Lillard necessarily wants to do and he has always been a guy to go against the odds and win on his own, but he is in the prime of his career right now. The Trail Blazers are not going to better themselves in terms of roster talent over the next year or two, which is why Lillard could strongly consider joining other All-Star talents on another team.
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If Lillard wants out of Portland sometime in the next year and this deal is still on the table for the Blazers, they would be foolish not to accept this. While he would remain in the Western Conference, Portland would be receiving immediate help with the likes of Ingram, Lewis Jr. and Hayes, assuming that Jaxson Hayes is not suspended due to his on-going legal issues.
From a talent standpoint, the Trail Blazers would be getting everything they would need to hopefully quickly rebuild in the post-Lillard era, which is all they can ask for at this point, again, assuming Damian Lillard requests a trade. With a core of McCollum, Ingram and Powell, as well as having guys like Covington, Nurkic and Simons, the Portland Trail Blazers could definitely already further themselves in a rebuilding process rather than starting from scratch, which is why this would be a strong deal for them.
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Getting rid of Damian Lillard is definitely a terrible move from an organization’s perspective, but if he wants out and requests a trade, there is little they can do without ruining their reputation more than they already have. Unless Portland surprises everybody and is able to acquire another All-Star talent, it is hard to see Lillard staying in his current situation.
