Moda Center home of the Portland Trail Blazers (photo by CrispyCream27 via Wikimedia).
After another underperforming season ending in a tank job, the Portland Trail Blazers have put themselves in a position they didn’t think possible back in October or even January. They have a slight chance of turning the franchise around REALLY quickly.
Here are five moves that sound like a pipe dream but could actually happen to vault this team instantaneously into contender status.
It comes as no surprise that this would be the number one move that would change the Portland Trail Blazers shakey present into a bright future. The chance to draft the 7’ 4” game-changing phenom named Victor Wembanyama.
You cannot overstate the impact a player like him would do for a franchise. A defensive juggernaut with a guard-like handle, Wembanyama would instantaneously raise Portland’s defensive ceiling, and yet he’s still only 19 years old.
Portland Trail Blazers fans old enough to remember what Arvydas Sabonis did for the franchise should be salivating.
If drafting Wembanyana is considered the first domino to fall, then surely re-allocating talent for a major upgrade at small forward would be the second. OG Anunoby would instantly be the best lockdown defender this team has seen in over 20 years (and that includes Matisse Thybulle).
He would be the Draymond Green-type player Damian Lillard has coveted for the last five seasons. With Anunoby being much better than Draymond ever was on offense and minus the mouth that tends to get Green in trouble oh so often.
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.
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.
There has been quite the rumble from Portland Blazers fans complaining that Jusuf Nurkic is no longer good enough to be the team’s starting center. While that’s not a universal sentiment, the Rip City faithful won’t argue much about his coming off the bench.
Nurk instantaneously becomes a 6th-man like player for this team. He can feast on opposing teams’ backup centers while being the veteran presence on a Portland Trail Blazers bench unit likely to revolve around a re-signed Mattise Thybulle, Cam Reddish, and Nassir Little, along with developing youngsters Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker, Keon Johnson, and whoever the Blazers convince to sign with their mid-level exception.
In addition to a star-stacked starting five, Portland could supplement them with a solid rotation.
Daydreaming about what could happen in the next few months was just a fun exercise. Obviously, landing the number one overall pick is the most unrealistic thing to happen in this scenario, but past that, the other four moves are very possible.
Trading for OG Anunoby might need to be a bigger overpay, but moving forward with a “Big 3” of Lillard, Anunoby, and Grant, all the while rounding it out with two 19-year-old future All-Stars in Webanyama and Sharpe, there is no way Portland Trail Blazers fans (and Lillard) couldn’t be excited about this team moving forward.
The odds of this scenario happening start with the 10.5% chance the Portland Trail Blazers have to win the NBA Draft Lottery on May 16.