1. Portland Trail Blazers
Arguably the biggest surprise of the 2022 NBA trade deadline was the Portland Trail Blazers blowing their roster up. For years the organization was determined to make things work around Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. But, that was Niel Olshey’s vision, and once he was removed from his position as general manager, the team set out on a new course.
McCollum, along with Norman Powell, Larry Nance Jr., and Robert Covington, were all traded. The Trail Blazers are now positioned to have some of the most spending power this offseason in terms of cap space and draft capital.
The Trail Blazers’ goal is to rebuild the roster around Lillard. There is a lot of work to be done, as the team needs help essentially across the board. The backcourt is in good hands with Lillard and Anfernee Simons and Josh Hart, should he not be waived because of his non-guaranteed deal, is about the only sure thing for minutes next season.
Portland will be aggressively upgrading their roster and should make a push for Miles Bridges. Bridges would give the team a building block on the wing and a legitimate No. 2 scoring option behind Lillard.
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The Trail Blazers should have the cap space to outright sign Bridges to an offer sheet should they choose to, but executing a sign-and-trade would help them keep a little more cap space available to add more pieces to the roster.
