Portland Trail Blazers Case Study

Last year, the Portland Trail Blazers were the surprise and feel good story of the NBA. Losing a star in Lamarcus Aldridge in free agency, along with Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum spelled doom for Trail Blazers. Many in the media and across the league picked Portland to finish near the bottom of the west and destined for a lottery finish. Instead, the squad finished with 44 wins and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. The Blazers front office responded by retaining their talent and acquiring pieces through free agency. This included 100 million over 4 years for CJ McCollum, 40 million over 4 years for Moe Harkless, 75 million over 4 years for Allen Crabbe, and 70 million over 4 years for Evan Turner. This year, things have gone
They tried to address this with the signing of Festus Ezeli but the injury prone center has not even saw the floor due to chronic knee issues. This backup plan signing proved disastrous as the Blazers were not able to secure better free agents big man targets like Bismack Biyombo, Hassan Whiteside or Pau Gasol for various reasons. To try to salvage this season, look for the Blazers to attempt acquiring a solid rim protector such as Nerlens Noel, Tyson Chandler, or Willie Cauley Stein. Good defensive big men do not grow on trees, so the Blazers will need to part by trading a piece such as Crabbe, Myles Leonard, and/or a first round pick. In my opinion, the signing of Evan Turner makes someone like Crabbe or Harkless expendable. Teams like Philadelphia or Sacramento need wings and could be tempted to part with Noel or Cauley-Stein to get one. Portland just has too many redundant pieces at guard and need to get rid of one to turn around this season.

To even reach their potential this year, the Blazers need to bolster their horrid defense and not allow their dynamic backcourts offensive prowess to be cancelled out on the other end of the floor. This is the only way they can even come close to replicating last year's