Projecting Trail Blazers' Untradeable Core Pieces

Who should Portland hold onto?

The Portland Trail Blazers are expected to be a bottom team in the Western Conference once again this coming season. After moving on from All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard last season, Portland is in a full rebuild as they look more toward the future of the organization.

The Trail Blazers have multiple young players that could be part of the team moving forward. Names such as Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Donovan Clingan all are expected to receive large roles this season as the team evaluates everything.

Portland has a few other players on the roster who could be part of the team but are also more expendable. The team has received trade interest in guard Anfernee Simons, center Robert Williams III, and forward Jerami Grant this summer but so far, nothing has materialized.

The question remains who the Trail Blazers will prioritize in building for the future?

NBA insider David Aldridge of The Athletic wrote about the pieces that Portland could keep to use as a core going forward.

"This could change on a dime. The Blazers have multiple vets under contract through 2026 who could be enticing elsewhere (Deandre Ayton/Jerami Grant/Williams) and younger players like Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara who also intrigue. Assuming Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Clingan and the 23-year-old Avdija make up Portland’s core going forward, Portland could quickly become a prime seller and load up on future picks and young players. For now, though, the Blazers are at the bottom looking up in the Western Conference, and there’s no particular reason to believe they’ll be able to move up. And this is coming from someone who loves Clingan and thinks he can be a big-time player in the league."

Portland will want to see what some of the young players do this season as they assess everything for the future. With all the talent in the Western Conference, the Trail Blazers need to have at least six quality players to match up on any given night.

Once they set the core pieces in place, Portland can then begin to fully optimize the team to contend for a title. It may take some time but the Trail Blazers are in a good spot despite the lack of expected winning this coming season.

Having a young nucleus gives Portland some hope going forward, even if the fans will need to be patient.

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