NBA Mock Offseason: LA Clippers win Finals and Bradley Beal is traded

NBA Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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NBA Portland Trail Blazers Damian Lillard (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

Portland Trail Blazers

Roster 

Head coach: Terry Stotts 

2019-20 NBA season results:

  • Missed playoffs

Who they re-signed:

  • Carmelo Anthony re-signed to a one-year, $2 million contract
  • Hassan Whiteside re-signed to a three-year, $32.4 million contract

Who they signed in FA:

  • Ian Mahinmi signed to a one-year, league-minimum contract
  • Jeff Green signed to a one-year, league-minimum contract
  • Trey Lyles signed to a one-year, $6 million contract
  • Michael Kidd-Gilchrist signed to a one-year, $3.9 million contract

Trades they made:

  • Trevor Ariza, Rodney Hood, Nassir Little, Mario Hezonja and 2022 Portland Trail Blazers second-round draft pick for DeMar DeRozan (multi-team trade involving Charlotte Hornets and San Antonio Spurs)

Who they drafted:

  • Drafted Keyontae Johnson, Nico Mannion

Other moves:

  • N/A

Summary: The Portland Trail Blazers stick to what has worked for them and pretty much replace everything else. Given the injuries in 2019-20, they keep Terry Stotts on as the head coach with their core trio of Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic. Carmelo Anthony and Hassan Whiteside had success for them and both are retained.

They take the best player available in the draft with Nico Mannion who should form a nice young bench backcourt with Anfernee Simons. All their free-agent signings provide depth where needed, but their biggest move is adding DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan provides another offensive option that would make the Trail Blazers difficult to defend.

Lillard and McCollum shooting in the backcourt with DeRozan’s scoring threat is legitimate and should see Portland back into the playoff race hoping Nurkic comes back at full health. Trey Lyles and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also add to Portland’s depth and gives them the ability to throw out different versions of their line-up depending on the matchup.