Portland Trail Blazers: The balancing act between now and later
Chris Phillips
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The Portland Trail Blazers are in a balancing act. They need to walk the tight rope of building a contender for both now and the future.
The Portland Trail Blazers are in a very unenviable position. GM Joe Cronin needs to put together a team that is capable of winning now while star Damian Lillard is still in his prime. However, Cronin also needs to build a team that can continue to win when Anfernee Simons is the star of the franchise. In short, Cronin shouldn’t be making moves to try to win now while putting the franchise in future peril.
To date, Cronin’s doing a fair job. I’ve been critical of him in the past, but I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. Even if it is only being partially wrong. I still think his moves at last year’s trade deadline could have been better. And when I say better, I mean get a better return of payers while also creating the available cap space.
But I’m digressing here. The Jerami Grant trade would fall more under the “win now” category. Grant is 28 years old, and his addition is more to help Lillard and Company win now. As my colleague, Andrew Elderbaum, points out, Grant’s versatility works well for the Portland Trail Blazers. I just hope this trade isn’t a repeat of the Robert Covington trade.
Now that we’ve established that Grant is a win-now move, we move on to their move that is more about future success. That would be them using the number seven overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft on guard Shadeon Sharpe.
Jumped onto Sportscenter with @ElleDuncanESPN to discuss Portland landing Detroit’s Jerami Grant pic.twitter.com/wg1EZ6NMnV
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2022