Portland Trail Blazers: The Pipe Dream (That could happen)
While watching teams not named the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Playoffs, why not dream about an immediate turnaround in Rip City?
3. Re-sign Grant
If the Portland Trail Blazers could pull off the first two moves on this list, then re-signing Jerami Grant ABSOLUTELY needs to happen. With Anunoby focused on defending the opposing team’s best player, it would allow Grant to roam more often and be more of a pest on the defensive side of the ball.
Grant improved his shooting percentages last season with Portland. In this hypothetical, Grant would likely get even better looks on the court. Defenders wouldn’t only have to focus on Dame scorching them from the perimeter. They would also have to handle Webanyama down low and Anunoby cutting to the basket.
Whether it’s running or playing half-court ball, Grant would be even more of an offensive threat.
4. Sharpe becomes a starter
The other advantage of moving on from Simons is opening up the starting shooting guard spot for quickly-rising youngster Shaedon Sharpe. Whatever questions Portland Trail Blazers fans might have about whether or not 2022’s first round pick is good enough to start gets squashed with him being in a stacked starting lineup.
A Lillard, Sharpe, Anunoby, Grant, and Wembenyama starting 5 creates so many options for Sharpe on offense. Simultaneously the lineup has enough defensive presence to cover for early mistakes as he continues to develop.
At the end of last season, Sharpe showed glimpses of star potential. He could take his game to another level with this group.