2. Portland Trail Blazers
Coming into the season, the Portland Trail Blazers looked like a team stuck in no-man’s land. After Neil Olshey was removed from the front office, the team’s game plan changed. Joe Cronin took over as the interim general manager and began clearing house.
Cronin cleared a ton of cap space by trading away CJ McCollum and Norman Powell. The Trail Blazers’ plan, now, seems to be to reload the roster around Damian Lillard and get back to competing for a playoff spot next season.
Portland now has a ton of cap space to play with and will be looking to spend it. One player that should be on the Trail Blazers’ radar is Deandre Ayton. The Blazers can afford to pay him a max contract and he would fill a major void in the frontcourt with Jusuf Nurkic being a free agent.
Ayton would be the perfect blend of youth and experience to help a Portland team that needs some building blocks for the future but wants to compete again as soon as possible. The defense has been an issue for the team, but Ayton would help get them on track on that end of the court.
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In Portland, Ayton would also receive more opportunities to score the ball. He is extremely efficient, but with the Suns, he is sometimes the third or fourth option on the court. The Trail Blazers would be able to make him a go-to option behind Lillard in their offense.
