The Portland Trail Blazers upgrade their frontcourt with help from the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers
The name that we consistently keep hearing — and suggesting — as a solution to the Blazers’ defensive woes is Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons. And we’ll continue to hear and suggest him until he’s eventually dealt.
This will have to wait until 76ers general manager Daryl Morey brings his trade demands back down from the “ridiculousphere,” but Philadelphia is in a tie for seventh in the Eastern Conference with an equally as disappointing Boston Celtics team, so will be presumably more eager to get some return for Simmons soon.
The Sixers bring in three expiring contracts and a versatile pick-and-roll partner for Joel Embiid in Burks, and give up a backup center and non-contributing player. The Knicks get a franchise pillar in McCollum to pair with Julius Randle and get a little leaner for a playoff run.
Portland gets what it needs most: a top-three defender with something to prove and clears some playing time for Ben McLemore and Larry Nance, Jr. They’ll also improve four roster spots by ten points of defensive rating.
“Wow,” you say. “Ten points would make the difference in a lot of games.” Then I gently point out that that’s ten points PER PLAYER and your jaw hits the floor as you envision a clogged lane, blocked shots, boxing out, and steals winning games for the Blazers instead.
We can get there; it will take sacrificing a legendary Blazer and model citizen and teammate in McCollum and some off-season roster flexibility in Nurkic and Covington’s contracts, but bringing in four players who are head and shoulders better defensively than anyone on Portland’s current roster would truly transform this team.
Daryl Morey would demand a cache of future first-round picks from both the Blazers and Knicks, here, but both teams should be more than willing to comply in this case.