The most important summer in Portland is this one. The Portland Trail blazers have been the Warriors little brother for the past 10 years. The Currys are in franchise terms.
Portland has struggled to get the ball moving and has been among the league's worst in passes and assists per game. The NBA Finals feature Golden State, the NBA's second-best defense, against Boston, the NBA's top defense.
The defensive rating metric measures points allowed per 100 possessions and since bumping against their ceiling, the Blazers have finished 28th, 29th and 29th in the last three seasons. The Blazers are finally in a position to address their weaknesses after three years of failure. The Portland Trail blazers are poised to double down on their all-world offense, bottom-barrel defensive strategy this off-season, instead of surrounding Lillard with two-way defensive wings like Andrew Wiggins and versatile switchable bigs like Robert Williams.
According to Brian Windhorst, the Blazers were involved in discussions about acquiring free-agent guardZach LaVine. The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported this week that the Blazers are interested in LaVine. It's a gamble that they have to make because the pair represent their last chance to give Lillard a fighting chance in the West. The Portland team would be exciting in the playoffs. They need more than that to be within earshot of the finals. The two are defensive turnstiles. Lavine has a history of knee problems, but he shot 30 percent from distance this season.
That is not the purpose. Portland is trying to keep Anfernee Simons, their point guard of the future, while also putting Damian Lillard back in the playoffs. If C.J. McCollum had been moved to New Orleans, there would have been a chance for a total reset. New Orleans escaped the lottery and burst into the playoffs as an 8-seed, leaving Portland with a future first round pick from the McCollum trade. The Blazers decided to start a youth movement instead of a rebuild.
Re-signing Simons, who is a restricted free agent, is equally high on Portland's list of priorities. Their coveted first-round pick was thrown into the competition as a starter. In 27 games, he averaged 23.4 points and 5.8 assists on 42 percent shooting from distance and proved to be the heir apparent. His emergence gave Portland the choice of putting him with a dynamic guard or with someone else.
The most gifted player Neil Olshey drafted was Simons. Even though he thrived as a primary ballhandler, he will be put back into an uncomfortable off-ball role next season due to the return of Lillard. Portland is doing their due diligence on potential free agents but they are in a precarious position. If they want to free up the necessary cap room to sign a max-contract player, they will have to give up the rights to several other players, including Jusuf Nurki. Portland is selling their loyal star on the fact that the pair won't be pretty. If they are forced to dump Nurki, things will get worse on the defensive. Portland can always trade the seventh pick, but it is a high-wire act without a parachute which helps them in the short term.
The act has a parachute option. The general manager can accept reality and trade for players or picks who fit the timelines. As time goes on, the value on the trade market will decline. Brooklyn got a lot of talent and picked James Harden. The Celtics were able to reach the Finals thanks to the haul of picks they had when they traded Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to Brooklyn. It's a seller's market for Portland but they can't sell each other blind hope forever. Father time waits for no man as he waits for his son to be NationMaster NationMaster.
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