Portland Trail Blazers: 3 small forwards to target in 2022 NBA Free Agency
By Andy Quach
As the losses continue mounting and the draft odds keep rising, the Portland Trail Blazers need to keep focus on their free agency targets as well. I’ve already highlighted the point and shooting guards that General Manager Joe Cronin needs to monitor heading into the offseason, although Brandon Williams’s stellar play might make the search for a backup floor general obsolete. One piece that the Blazers have been missing since Damian Lillard joined the NBA is a reliable two-way small forward.
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Portland has the luxury of two pretty good plan Bs in Josh Hart and Nassir Little. Either of these in-house wings could aptly fill the starting small forward slot, although each also has their own drawbacks.
3 small forwards for the Portland Trail Blazers to target in 2022 NBA Free Agency
Nassir Little was ascending almost as quickly as fellow wunderkind Anfernee Simons but saw his development halted by a season-ending shoulder injury. Expecting him to return, pick up where he left off, and continue his evolution may be too tall a task for a team that’s hoping to compete for the championship next season. It might prove best to let him run the second unit and slowly assimilate back into the NBA.
Josh Hart has all of the requisite tools to be the two-way wing that Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic need between them. He can spot up for open triples, act as a secondary playmaker, and play above-average defense on most wings in the league. Unfortunately, at 6’5, he’s a little undersized at the three-spot and Portland may have PTSD from watching Norman Powell try to chase down Michael Porter Jr. in the first round of the playoffs in 2021.
The Trail Blazers can also use Joe Ingles’s bird rights, which they acquired in the Nickeil Alexander-Walker trade, to retain him, although the Aussie’s best years are probably in his rearview.
While small forward may not be as glaring of a hole next season as in years past, it’s still imperative that Cronin tries to land a home run and give Dame the supporting piece he never had: a two-way star on the wings.