Trail Blazers News: Diagnosing Top Needs of Portland Next Year
The Portland Trail Blazers are coming off a poor 21-61 season, missing the playoffs for the third straight season. After trading away star point guard Damian Lilliard, the Blazers entered into a full rebuild without any star players.
It's been a tough stretch for Portland and they enter a crucial offseason needing to start building back up. They have also dealt with rumors about head coach Chauncey Billups not being with the team long-term, giving more
Morten Stig Jensen of Yahoo Sports outlined where Portland could look heading into the offseason. The Trail Blazers have a ton of needs but could start to get themselves back to a place of contention.
"The Blazers are in sore need of some roster symmetry and some constructed hierarchy. Half the players don’t know if they’re staying or going, and the players that do have an inkling of their long-term place have yet to carve out their roles for the future. Building a roster that helps each understand his spot on the team will be crucial, and that means lessening the guard glut and presenting a team with more obvious roles that will come more naturally to each party. Finally, while winning shouldn’t be the main driver for next season, they will need to find a way to experience more success. Young players stuck in a web of constant losses, while not knowing what’s next, rarely tend to develop at the rate needed."
Portland has some talented players on the roster such as Anfernee Simons, Shaedon Sharpe, Kris Murray, Jerami Grant, and Deandre Ayton. They also have last season's first-round pick, Scoot Henderson. It's not the greatest roster but they can make this work with more time together.
The Trail Blazers are high on the growth of Simons and Sharpe but they do need them to step up this next season. Finding players who can help them get themselves out of the basement of the league will at the very least give them an identity.
Portland also holds two lottery picks, No. 7 and No. 14 in the first round of the upcoming draft which could help the rebuild. This team may not be contenders right now but they are actively trying to build for the future.
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MATT LEVINE
Matt earned a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from Louisiana State University in 2021. He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, covering all Southern California sports in his career.