Portland Trail Blazers: Laying a foundation for the future
Chris Phillips
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What happens to the Portland Trail Blazers after Dame and CJ move on from Rip City? The next core is already being built to solidify the team’s future.
Recently I started thinking about the Portland Trail Blazers long-term future. It started when I read an article about the future of the Golden State Warriors now that reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo signed his super-max deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. How their core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are still capable of bringing in a title, but the dream of bringing in Giannis to have another super team is dead.
It also talked about their future core roster. In summation, their core is Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, and their 2021 high draft pick, possibly Kelly Oubre Jr. It’s a bright future if you believe in Wiggins is the star talent everyone thought when he was drafted #1 overall.
Remember when the San Antonio Spurs were yearly title contenders. They had Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and All-Stars Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Those three, along with Hall of Fame coach Greg Popovich were always formidable opponents. That core group won three NBA titles together. Then they got old, and their championship window was closing. The Spurs needed some impact youth to continue their run.
Enter in Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, and Cory Joseph. Those six players were able to beat the super team Miami Heat (they should have won it all in 2013) in 2014. It looked like San Antonio would continue as title contenders for years to come. We know how that story ended and what it brought to the NBA, Load Management. That’s a topic for another day.
It’s those two sources for the inspiration of this article.
So, what’s next, Trail Blazers fans? As in what’s next after the Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum era. Who is the next core with which Portland Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey will build around? Jusuf Nurkic, 26, so he can be the bridge between the eras but is he really talented enough to be THE guy? Let’s recognize what Portland already has, and conclude that Dame is the benchmark. What he does and brings to this franchise is truly special.