Portland Trail Blazers: Flexing their payroll flexibility
Blazers at 100
Here is where I think it gets interesting. Portland added players to help keep some stability while Zach Collins and Rodney Hood nurse themselves back to 100 percent health. When the Blazers get to full strength, there will be plenty of questions that need to be answered. Hood is the lynchpin.
Backcourt
The guard rotation already barely has minutes for Simons right now. What happens when Hood is healthy? Does he bump Gary Trent Jr.? Not if Trent plays anywhere close to the way he did in the bubble.
Frontcourt
If playing guard isn’t an option for Hood, does he get major minutes at small forward? Well, if Collins comes back as the starting power forward, it will be hard for Hood to get time at the three. At that point, small forward becomes Covington’s job with Anthony and Derrick Jones Jr. behind him.
It’s hard to see Collins coming off the Portland Trail Blazers bench for a prolonged period. If he plays backup center, what happens to Kantner? Neither Collins nor Kanter are third-string talents, so that’s off the table.
For a team with so many injury problems last season, these are good problems to have. I agree with that, but I also have a different thought process on this as well.