Portland Trail Blazers: Deja Vu All Over Again At Deadline
Would the Lakers or Nets take these deals? Up until this week, I’d have said no for the Lakers. The fact they offered their picks for Kyrie changed my thinking.
Lillard may be older but is more reliable from a physical and mental standpoint, and might convince them they have a chance to win the title. They’d be wrong, but still…
Brooklyn would probably love to move on from Simmons, and they still hope to make a run with KD this year. Jerami Grant, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Josh Hart would become immediate rotation players and would more than offset the losses of Irving and Simmons.
The Nets would be a better team, and I believe they would jump at the deal. Portland could finally jump into a rebuild with both feet. The foundational pieces would be the 23-year-old Simons, 19-year-old Sharpe, and possibly the 26-year-old Simmons.
Nassir Little has struggled to stay on the court but is only 22. When the smoke clears, The Portland Trail Blazers would keep their first rounder over the next season or two as it’s top 14 protected.
In the next few years, Portland has time to evaluate what Simons and Sharpe can be. If Simmons can be even 80% of what he was before, that’s a big win.
The Blazers have been running in place for years, and as long as Lillard is on the roster, that’s all they can be. By moving on from Dame and accepting his era is over, Portland can take a step or two back to allow themselves to sprint forward.
Take the plunge, Joe!