Does this trade make sense for the Portland Trail Blazers?
Leveraging CJ McCollum is a move that will most likely need to happen in order for the Portland Trail Blazers to find success moving forward.
Both Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little are two promising-looking young talents on this roster, but that is about all the Blazers have in terms of future assets.
Damian Lillard is now 31-years-old and his future is unclear, both Nurkic and Covington are in the final year of their contracts and Portland is missing a lot of draft capital through the years because of past trades they have made.
This group that they have right now is talented but given their 13-18 record close to 40% through the 2021-22 season, it is not enough to succeed in the Western Conference anymore.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Blazers Front Office Encouraged After Talks With Lillard, McCollum
Younger, more athletic teams have surpassed the Blazers, which is why it is time for them to reset some things on their roster and find ways to add more future value.
While Caris LeVert (27) and Myles Turner (25) are not the youngest players in the league, they are currently entering the primes of their respective careers and are both under contract through next season.
Should Portland decide that these two guys are not working out in their system, they could simply become free agents, giving the Portland Trail Blazers plenty of cap space to play around with when they rebuild in a few years down the road.
This trade does not return a ton of assets to Portland, but LeVert and Turner can both contribute meaningful minutes now and be key talents surrounding Damian Lillard on this roster. CJ McCollum has been great through the years and has been the “Robin” to Lillard’s “Batman”, but all good things must come to an end at some point.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Blazers Front Office Encouraged After Talks With Lillard, McCollum
Portland is not going to get more value in a trade for McCollum than they are getting here with the Indiana Pacers, which is why this deal definitely makes sense for them given their lack of success.
