Portland Trail Blazers
Biggest offseason moves: Drafted Scoot Henderson and Kris Murray, re-signed Jerami Grant, Damian Lillard’s trade demand
All the noise aside stemming from the Damian Lillard trade demand, the Portland Trail Blazers are in a great spot and you have to love what they’ve done this offseason thus far. A big part of that is due to the fact that the Blazers moved up in the draft lottery to a spot where they could take Scoot Henderson. He’s one of the biggest reasons why the Blazers can sleep comfortably no matter how the Lillard situation may end.
At least in my thinking, here’s the bottom line for the Blazers: even if the Lillard situation doesn’t get resolved in a manner that they want to see and he gets traded to Miami for 3-4 future first-round picks and a young player or two, that’s still a good deal. Whether they want to believe it or not, Lillard’s trade value around the league isn’t high. That’s OK because the Heat NEED him.
Portland is in a good place even if the return for Lillard is “underwhelming.” They have a good core with Scoot, Shaedon Sharpe, and Anfernee Simons. Three to four picks from Miami will help and they could also trade those for additional assets later on.
Plus, let’s not forget that they also have the asset that is Jerami Grant. He’s another player that they’ll probably be able to move for another 1-2 future first-round picks down the road. The Blazers are in a really good spot right now, with or without Lillard.
Grade: B+