Portland Trail Blazers: A CJ McCollum for Ben Simmons trade makes sense for both teams
3. Damian Lillard finally has an “All-Star” level teammate again
Rip City fans recall the Damian Lillard/LaMarcus Aldridge era. The last time Dame played with an All-Star, Portland had a brief look at a team knocking at the door of contention. Unfortunately, that team was a healthy Wesley Matthews and an upgrade at center (apologies to Robin Lopez, who was solid but just not quite enough IMO) away from winning a championship. The recipe was a pair of defensive wing players in Batum and Matthews who could knock down the 3-balls with an inside presence from Aldridge, whom defenses had to double team.
I think Powell/Roco can be better versions of that Matthews/Batum combo. Powell already has better ball-handling skills than Matthews ever had. Also, after his initial rough start, Roco was a better defender and seemed more consistent than Batum did with the Blazers.
Offensively, Ben Simmons isn’t anywhere close to the player Aldridge was. However, his passing and slashing abilities would help Nurkic maximize his offensive potential (which, as I mentioned before, has been underutilized). There is also the benefit of creating a nightmarish defensive pair down low.
Imagine Ben Simmons switching off and guarding Nikola Jokic throughout the recent Denver series? How about the year before if Portland was able to put Ben Simmons on Anthony Davis? One could argue that Ben Simmons is on the defensive side of the court to what Lillard is on the offensive side. Why would you NOT want to pair up those two players?
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