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The Portland Trail Blazers, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins and the rest of their roster are currently 8-6, tied for fifth seed with the San Antonio Spurs. Although it is still very early in the season, the Blazers are not ready for the start that many expected of them. On top of that, the team is now in a fight against the injury virus.
Center Jusuf Nurkic and goalkeeper CJ McCollum – who had left for a career start – are both expected to miss a long time. They will join striker Zach Collins on the sidelines. The way the Western Conference is organized, the current injury roster can easily put Portland out of the playoff picture, a situation the Blazers don’t want to do again.
To avoid being there again, here are three panic button swaps the Blazers need to perform.
Blazers Targets:
3. Al Horford
The Blazers lost their depth with Nurkic’s injury – already a big one with Collins sidelined.
Now they have to rely on Kanter to occupy the middle. With the Oklahoma City Thunder going into rebuild mode, the Blazers may be able to trade for Al Horford.
Horford is a reliable vet who has done deep runs in the playoffs. He can bust all three, facilitate and defend his position if the Blazers got him.
The heist would be Horford’s contract. His current status in the league does not match his contract. The Blazers are likely to drop their four second-round picks in 2021 with Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons.
The Thunder would receive a young four rubber band, in Little, and a rising playmaker – who could play with and behind Shau Giuldreos Alexander. The Blazers would receive a solid scoring threat that has been proven in the playoffs. With the current state of the Western Conference, they may have to bite the bullet and make this deal.
2. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber
Moving on to a younger possibility, the Blazers could decide to decide that the Lillard McCollum era is coming to an end and decide to trade McCollum.
The Dallas Mavericks are another team that didn’t get the start they hoped for and may need some clarification. They could use a player of McCollum’s stature not only to serve as a playmaker in their starting lineup, but also as a leader in the locker room. The Mavs are young and talented but lack the experience to come out of tight games.
The Blazers are fun and exciting, but their backcourt is too small to defend in the playoffs. Adding Tim Hardawy Jr. to the starting lineup or bench would give the Blazers a natural backcourt – lengthwise. Maxi Kleber isn’t the kind of big rim protector, but he can bust all three and is very young. For what the Blazers want to do on offense, surrounding Lillard with quality shooters is a must. Portland would get two knockdowns three-pointers with no injury history.
McCollum, along with the Blazers, is undersized for both locations, but Luka Doncic is an extremely tall point guard so he cancels himself out. McCollum would be able to keep his natural position, and the Mavs would have a great defender on the ball to keep elite guards in their conference.
Dallas is also likely to return their 2023 first-round pick to the Blazers.
Top Blazers target:
1. Lonzo Ball
The Blazers rely on McCollum and Lillard to be their playmakers every minute of every game. This formula hasn’t worked in the past, and now that McCollum has been away for a while, they’ll need another person who can create for others.
Pelicans have this person. Lonzo Ball is an elite playmaker and defends at a high level – an area that Portland’s current backcourt struggles with.
Portland has high hopes and aspirations every year. They play well in the regular season, attract hype, and then die off in the playoffs. They’re struggling in the playoffs because they’re an undersized backcourt with a defensive passive and another undersized defenseman. Damian Lillard is a disappointing defender. He struggles to stay in front of the ball and is usually the late guy in rotations. McCollum is actually a very good defender, but he’s only 6’3 and has to defend both pitches – a position that sees players 6’6 and up.
The ball is 6’6 with a 6’9 wingspan. Not only does he stay in front of the ball, he’s a great defender on the assists side as well. He showed he can play the ball, and with Lillard as the Blazers teammate, he would have more room to attack the basket.
In his current squad, he has to take on the role of a point shooter, which hasn’t been his strong suit in the league – although he has shown improvement. With the Blazers, he won’t have to be a three-point sniper. Instead, he could be a slasher who can also shoot the ball – his actual game.
The Blazers will then be able to stagger Ball and Lillard’s minute to make sure there’s a playmaker on the floor at all times, and they’ll also have someone who can create for Dame – taking a load from him. .
This move improves them defensively and offensively and won’t force them to break the bank since Ball is still on his rookie contract. The Blazers could trade Rodney Hood for Ball Head Up.
The Blazers would gain a point guard and the Pelicans would add a reliable three-point threat to clear the way for Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
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