Moda Center home of the Portland Trail Blazers (photo by CrispyCream27 via Wikimedia).
The Portland Trail Blazers are certainly making moves and reshaping this roster at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, the returning assets and players leave a lot to be desired for some fans. This guy is one of those fans. Other fans want to sit back and call out other fans hypocrisy. For example, “You were upset with no moves being made. Now moves are being made, and you’re complaining. Haha, insert derogatory name-calling word or words.” And yet other fans are over the moon about the Blazers’ newly available cap space.
These fans issue smug, arrogant, and demeaning statements. Their message is to make you feel small and dumb. Like they are on another level in basketball knowledge. Now they might be smart, I have no way of knowing. However, circling back to their message about glorious cap space. When’s the last time cap space won a game for the Portland Trail Blazers? Or the last time cap space hit a game-winner? That remark may be a petty retort, but it points to a bigger concern.
As of now, Interim General Manager Joe Cronin’s plan appears to be going hard in free agency after a big-time/max contract or two, type of player. There are potentially big-time impactful free agents the Portland Trail Blazers can get. For example, Bradley Beal, James Harden, John Wall, or Zach LaVine. All of them come with their own concern.
Will Harden force his way out again? How will Beal be after his injury? Wall and Damian Lillard don’t make sense as a backcourt duo. And odds are Chicago doesn’t let LaVine get to free agency.
So, where’s this big max player that Cronin will lure to the Pacific Northwest? Up next are some good players who can be helpful, but by no means are they max contract type of talents. For example, Gary Harris, Jeremy Lamb, T.J. Warren, Dennis Schroder, or Collin Sexton. Of this group, Sexton is the one who offers the most upside and intrigue.
However, it would give the Portland Trail Blazers one of the smallest backcourts in the league. The rest of the names listed are role players or guys better utilized off the bench. Again, not exactly the max-level talent. Especially, when you compare them to former backcourt mate C.J. McCollum or rising star Anfernee Simons.
There is also this tiny detail that the city of Portland is not a destination location for top-of-the-line NBA players. Taking a page out of author Dwight Jaynes’ book, “The relatively small size of the city, the geographic location in a corner of the country that makes a lot of road trips longer than average, the gloomy weather.”
When’s the last time the Portland Trail Blazers, during the Lillard era, was able to bring in a max-level player? The fact remains that during Lillard’s time in Rip City, he has never played alongside another All-Star.
So, again I ask where this max-level player is coming from to team up with Lillard? Free agency looks bleak. And what may end up happening is the Portland Trail Blazers pulling a New York Knicks-style move, where they sign their own Julius Randle. NYK created a bunch of cap space to sign a few max-level players for those unaware. They swung and missed, and their consolation prize was signing Randle as mentioned above to a three-year, $62M deal.
Now don’t get it twisted. If the Portland Trail Blazers acquired Randle to pair up with Lillard, that would be a good move. Except for the fact it would just be like Lillard and McCollum but with a frontcourt and backcourt pair. Not to mention who is Portland giving up to acquire Randle? I’m digressing here. So, since free agency doesn’t look like the best option, only two options are left; the draft and trade.
We’ll save the draft for later as we don’t yet know who will be available. But there is this one note on any draft player. It is doubtful that they come into the league at an All-Star level in their first year. So, that means at least one year where Lillard doesn’t get any help from a rookie. It could be longer if the drafted player takes the Simons path.
So, now to the trade route. The Portland Trail Blazers don’t have much trade capital. Lillard, Simons, and Portland’s first-round draft picks are the pieces of value. Josh Hart and Nassir Little have some value as well, just to a lesser extent than the players mentioned above. We can pretty much rule out Lillard and Simons being dealt, as they are the new core and foundation of the team.
That leaves the draft picks, which are cheap financially speaking, Hart and Little. By trading for an NBA player, the Blazers would acquire a bigger salary than a drafted player, especially since Portland would be seeking to get a max-level type of player to join up.
This brings us back to the beloved cap space those “smart” Portland Trail Blazers fans are boasting about. You are giving up young valuable assets and cap space by trading for a max-level type of player. Consequently, the roster will need to be made up of free agent veteran players, who are more than likely on the downside of their career, or we know what we’re getting with them. In other words, a rotational player.
All this is to say that if Cronin successfully lands the full-time GM role, he will need to connect on his attempt to acquire a max-level player. On the other hand, if he doesn’t land the Portland Trail Blazers GM role, the person who does get it will be taking over a bit of a mess. As the roster is currently constructed, one superstar, a rising star, and many role players do not get this team to the promised land of an NBA Finals.
Maybe I could get more behind his moves if Cronin lands some young rising players in return or another lottery first-round draft pick. However, putting all of his proverbial eggs in one basket is a dangerous game. He better not miss, because it could cost him, Lillard. Subsequently, it would also cost him his job. Cheers to cap space and making the Portland Trail Blazers a desirable destination!