Portland Trail Blazers: Dame on the recruiting trail for a top center
Chris Phillips
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The Portland Trail Blazers are trying to “thread the needle” with the remaining high-quality years of Damian Lillard at the helm. Lillard may be trying to help Portland land some impact talent.
The Portland Trail Blazers are trying to thread the proverbial needle with the remaining high-quality years of Damian Lillard at the helm. Lillard’s heir apparent is youngster Anfernee Simons proved he could handle the job of Blazers’ go-to guy last season. But Dame wants to make another run at a championship in Rip City.
Lillard may be trying to help Portland’s management land some impact talent. He recently liked a tweet suggesting Phoneix’s former first overall pick, Deandre Ayton, take his talents up North.
Help in the low post
As of this moment, the starting center for the Portland Trail Blazers is Drew Eubanks. Yuck. Nothing against Eubanks as he played as well as could be expected from a fourth-string NBA player. Starting center Jusuf Nurkic is set to be an unrestricted free agent. So, that means Trail Blazers fans need to realize that Nurkic may not be back next year. Remember his comments after last season’s playoff exit?
Without Nurk, the Portland Trail Blazers will need an upgrade at the center spot. Preferably GM Joe Cronin is looking for a center that can contribute both now and in the future. Lillard is 31, and it remains to be seen how many more years he has at the elite level we’ve all come to watch, enjoy, and expect. Simons is the future, but first, Portland needs to re-sign him.
Dame isn’t done competing for a championship, but he needs help. The Western Conference isn’t easy. And some teams (Denver, Phoenix, LAC, and LAL) didn’t live up to their preseason hype for various reasons, including health but are very talented. Memphis is on the precipice of being a perennial Western Conference force. Also, Golden State isn’t done just yet being the top dog. So, let’s examine Ayton, the Portland Trail Blazers, and how this could work out.
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