Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers have revamped their roster in the last few months. Ahead of the trade deadline, they shipped Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the LA Clippers. They weren’t done there, as they also traded CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. to the New Orleans Pelicans.
It was all done to clear as much cap space and acquire as many assets as possible. With Damian Lillard recovering from a procedure on his abdomen, the team was looking to bottom out and reload during the offseason.
They have done a solid job thus far reshaping the roster. Shaedon Sharpe was selected with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Before the draft took place, Portland was able to land Jerami Grant from the Detroit Pistons in a trade.
In free agency, the Portland Trail Blazers were one of the winners as well. They snagged Gary Payton II from the Golden State Warriors while re-signing Jusuf Nurkic and Anfernee Simons. Adding another veteran of Jae Crowder’s caliber to the mix will only help elevate the team.
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Crowder would provide veteran depth on the wing and a defensive presence that the team has lacked in years past. Combined with Grant, Josh Hart, and Nurkic, the Portland Trail Blazers would finally have some players capable of getting the job done on defense to match their explosive offensive prowess.
Portland has been connected to some power forward options, such as John Collins, on the trade market as well. Crowder would come at a much cheaper price and wouldn’t hurt their long-term cap outlook as he is on an expiring contract.
