Trail Blazers Trade Target: Boogie Wonderland Meets Portland

Olshey’s Predicament

Saying farewell to CJ McCollum.

I know. He just penned a 4 year $106 million extension, but hear me out.

In order to acquire an all-star such as Cousins, Kings GM Vlade Divac will not let him go for 40 cents on the dollar. Cousins’ contract expires after next season (2017-18) so he will still have value on the open market where other teams will be driving up his price. This brings me to the point that the Blazers will have to part with McCollum to make this happen. The leagues 2015-16 Most Improved Player has risen as a star since the departure of Aldridge and has relished the role as backcourt mate, and second fiddle to Damian Lillard.

However, this does not come without any drawbacks. Lillard and McCollum form one of the worst defensive backcourts in the NBA, if not the worst. They are letting through 110.1 points per 100 possessions when they are both on the court together. This would rank the Blazers last as a team. Defense has long been viewed as the staple of a championships team. Only two teams in the past 20 years have won an NBA championship without a top 10 defence.

"“Defenses travel well, offenses may not”."

The addition of Boogie may not be a game changer on defense like what Hassan Whiteside or Gobert would be, but it would certainly improve the Blazer perimeter defense at the point of attack with Allen Crabbe or Evan Turner slotting in to start at the 2. This would answer any early season concerns about how sustainable an undersized backcourt is, instead they are balancing the themselves inside and out with the Cousins-Lillard dynamo.