Portland Trail Blazers: Final second round mock draft consensus
Assessing the roster
To reach the next level, the Trail Blazers need more help. Both Anthony and Whiteside are free agents. Melo said Portland felt like home and wants to come back, but that doesn’t mean he will be back. Whiteside will likely be too high priced for the Blazers to re-sign.
With Nurkic and Collins on the team and healthy, he is a high-profile bench player. The Blazers won’t pay $27M for a substitute, nor should they. Whiteside, for his part, won’t play for the same or less money after leading the league in blocks and finishing second in rebounds.
Trevor Ariza went in the trade to acquire Covington. Shortly afterward, Rodney Hood declined his player option for $6M. Coming back from an Achilles injury and in this shaky market, he must have really been ticked off by the Covington trade.
Covington is an okay offensive player. His value comes more on the defensive end. As of now, the Portland Trail Blazers are incredibly thin in the frontcourt. Wenyen Gabriel is the only decent power player on the bench. Frankly, on a good team, he’s maybe the 11th or 12th man. Mario Herzonja is the only veteran three they have, and he’s extremely inconsistent. The Blazers are in desperate need of both a power forward and center on the bench.
Hopefully, between now and the start of the draft, Portland Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey has another move or two up his sleeve.