Portland Trail Blazers: 3 small forwards to target in 2022 NBA Free Agency

Portland Trail Blazers free agency small forward target: T.J. Warren

You can’t win big if you don’t gamble sometimes, and T.J. Warren is certainly a gamble now.

The former N.C. State Wolfpack (member? wolf?) has only played four games since the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. All of those appearances came in the last league year.

Before then, though, Warren was setting NBA Twitter on fire with his performance in the bubble.

In the 10 games he played in Orlando, he put up 26.6 points per game while scorching the nets at a 54 percent rate from the field and 48 percent from deep according to statmuse.

While that mark from behind the arc is unsustainable, his development as a shooter isn’t.

Before entering the bubble, Warren was having a career year, especially from 3-point land. In 2019-2020 as a whole, he averaged 19.8 points while stroking 54 percent of his looks overall and 40 percent on treys.

All of Warren’s scoring also comes with the added bonus of his perimeter defense.

While he doesn’t offer much in the playmaking department, he’s more than capable of creating looks for himself when called upon. Having a third option behind Dame and Ant who can get a bucket when the clock is winding down will make the Blazers’ offense exponentially more dangerous.

With an ambiguous foot injury, Warren’s price tag will assuredly take a hit this summer. The Portland Trail Blazers should consider taking a swing on him if the price is right.