2. Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers’ biggest move this offseason was changing their head coach. Terry Stotts was relieved of his duties as coach of the team with Chauncey Billups taking over as the lead man on the sidelines.
On the court, there weren’t many changes made. Ben McLemore, Tony Snell and Cody Zeller were signed in free agency. That probably isn’t the kind of help that Damian Lillard had in mind when he mentioned upgrading the roster this offseason.
Acquiring Danilo Gallinari is a move that might make him happier, though. Gallinari would be a welcomed addition to the frontcourt, where the Trail Blazers is lacking some scoring punch. With Carmelo Anthony and Enes Kanter departing in free agency, the team is even more backcourt-heavy when it comes to scoring the ball.
Jusuf Nurkic is the only frontcourt player on the roster that averaged double-figure points per game last season. Gallinari would help replace that and could step into the role Anthony had last season as a floor-spacing, offensive-minded forward off the bench.
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Gallinari won’t help their defensive struggles much, but he would help compensate for the scoring the Trail Blazers lost this offseason and failed to replace.
