Trail Blazers’ Secondary Talents

This season has been a mess for the Portland Trail Blazers, as it appears their streak of eight straight playoff appearances will be coming to an end. Entering a rebuild was something that has been on the horizon for years in Portland and this season, interim GM Joe Cronin finally pulled-the-trigger on entering a rebuild by trading CJ McCollum, Norman Powell and Robert Covington ahead of the trade deadline. 

Continuing to find ways to build around Damian Lillard is the main goal of this franchise right now and while Anfernee Simons surely looks like a young star in the making, the Trail Blazers are still searching for more key talents that they can continue to build with on their roster. 

With McCollum, Covington and Powell all gone, plus the fact that Nassir Little, Jusuf Nurkic and Damian Lillard are out with injuries, there are plenty of opportunities for the secondary talents on Portland’s roster right now. 

Anfernee Simons is going to do his thing the rest of the season, but Josh Hart, Justise Winslow and Trendon Watford are next-in-line to see their production skyrocket. 

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Hart was acquired by Portland in the CJ McCollum to New Orleans trade and so far, he has played well in a Blazers’ uniform, averaging 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting 52.4% from three-point range in three games with the team. 

Justise Winslow has also played well and has seemed to find new footing in this league and in his career with his short stint in Portland so far. Now in his 7th season, Winslow has always been regarded as a multi-purpose player that can play with or without the ball in his hands and he has proven to be a two-way factor as a “positionless” type player for the Blazers. 

Jusuf Nurkic being out and the team waiving Cody Zeller recently opens the door for Trendon Watford to see plenty of minutes the rest of the way this season. The Trail Blazers recently converted his two-way contract to a four-year, $5.8 million deal with the final two years of his contract being fully non-guaranteed. 

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The rookie big man from LSU has made the most of his limited minutes off-the-bench this season and has been a factor as a physical athlete in the paint on both ends of the floor. 

Other young talents in Keon Johnson and CJ Elleby also have opportunities presented to them the rest of the way in Portland this season. The Trail Blazers are going to be evaluating talent on their roster over the next several weeks leading up to the rest of the season, creating opportunities for guys to earn their roster spot for next season.