It’s quite easy to analyze the Portland Trail Blazers’ issues at the quarter mark in the season. The defense is clearly lacking and the ball movement has been nothing short of atrocious.
The Portland Trail Blazers currently have a defensive rating of 110.8 which has them ranked in the lower third of the league. It’s truly been no fun watching the lackluster defense giving up wide-open look after wide-open look.
On top of the defensive struggles, the Trail Blazers rank 29th in the NBA in total assists, averaging just 20 per outing. It’s an isolation based offense with isolation based players which can be great when the rhythm is there, but when it’s not the offense looks beyond ugly.
Blazers fans appear upset and continue to complain post-game, but when it comes down to it, nothing will change until the roster has a different structure.
So, analyzing the trade market there are very few players out there who are reasonably attainable and fill the Trail Blazers’ needs. Again, the goal is a player who can defend at a high rate and move the ball.
The answer is Nicolas Batum. His return to Portland would be as easy as shipping off Kent Bazemore and Gary Trent Jr. Batum is only 30 right now and is already a fan favorite in Portland.
Many may take a look at his recent performance in Charlotte and quickly disagree with me, but let me ask you how many players you can name that have succeeded in a Hornets jersey over the last decade, other than Kemba Walker.
All Trail Blazers fans know what Batum brings on the defensive end. He’s a high energy guy with a high basketball IQ that could provide a major improvement on both ends.
Not only does he have the potential to boost the defense, but he’s an awesome facilitator. He’s a guy who could come in and easily average over five assists per game. He always made the extra pass and looked for others over himself.
The ultimate goal for Batum would be for him to lead the bench unit and come in and let Simons and McCollum play off ball while he facilitated. Something or someone needs to motivate this team to trust each other because right its a ‘me first’ type team.
Again, I understand the recent struggles that Batum has had, but it’s an opportunity both sides must take. For Portland, he has the potential to bring exactly what we need on defense and offense and for Nicolas Batum, it’s an opportunity for him to revive his career back where it started.