Trail Blazers News: Why Portland Will Most Likely Need to Bundle Vets in Trade

It's probably time for the team to move on.

Jan 17, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) celebrates with teammates, from left, forward Jabari Walker (34), guard Malcolm Brogdon (11), and forward Jerami Grant (9) after scoring the game winning basket against the Brooklyn Nets at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports / Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Finally in 2023-24, the Portland Trail Blazers recognized that they had no shot of making the postseason at the start of the year. The Blazers had deluded themselves into thinking that they did during their final two stints with All-Star point guard Damian Lillard and not much else, in both 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Now, the team has some tough choices to make heading into the 2024 NBA Draft later this month, and free agency in July.

In a fresh reader mailbag, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report notes that the Trail Blazers currently have 14 players inked to their 15-man standard roster. The club also has two first round lottery draft picks at its disposal, Nos. 7 and 14. Both those picks would be inked to standard deals (barring a trade). Portland isn't winning squat next year, either, so it behooves the team to add as much young talent as possible. Thus, it makes sense for the Blazers to move on from as many of their veteran players as they can this year.

Point guard Malcolm Brogdon, who was the Sixth Man of the Year for a Boston Celtics club that made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023, should still have some value on the trade market this season as a third guard for some contender, despite his lengthy injury history. His fellow ex-Celtic, center Robert Williams III, may be too much of an injury risk for interested parties to consider offloading draft equity to add. Forwards Jerami Grant and Matisse Thybulle, however, could certainly command some interest. Grant just inked a five-year, $160 million deal to stick around with Portland last summer, weirdly. It's probably a tad too generous, yes, but as a switchy, 3-and-D forward, he could slot in nicely for a team willing to perhaps overpay a little on their cap sheet in exchange for a final championship piece.

More Trail Blazers: Portland Hosts 6 Draft Prospects, Including Possible Lottery Pick