The Portland Trail Blazers have until 2025 to build a championship-contending team around their all-time leading scorer, Damian Lillard. It’s obvious to Blazers fans that the current team is not a contender.
Sure, at 26-28, the team currently sits just 1.5 games out of the play-in tournament, but anyone who has watched the Blazers this season knows that their current roster has no answer for any team that features a large frontcourt or multiple star players.
There are a few different trade options the Blazers could explore if management thinks the team can contend this year, including a trade for Utah’s Jarret Vanderbilt or moving Josh Hart for more size.
Perhaps the most interesting name that has been floated in NBA trade rumors recently is Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Nets are unlikely to trade their all-star forward, but if they changed their minds and the Blazers could put together an enticing trade package, would KD make the Blazers a contender?
In aftermath of Kyrie Irving trade, the Brooklyn Nets and Kevin Durant are having ongoing conversations on the direction of the franchise, but organization has thus far told inquiring teams that they’re not planning to trade him before Thursday’s deadline, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2023
Does Durant add enough for the Trail Blazers to win it all?
Durant is a 13-time NBA All-Star, two-time finals MVP, and 2014 league MVP who is a surefire Hall of Famer. His 29.7 points per game this season, size, and scoring prowess would surely be welcome on the Trail Blazers, who have long searched for a second star to pair with Lillard.
In theory, adding Durant gives the Trail Blazers two elite scoring threats, but it’s probably not enough to put them over the top and win a championship trophy. Assuming Durant stays healthy (he’s missed 14 games this season and hasn’t logged a full season since his Achilles injury in 2019), the Blazers would still be missing the size needed to compete with teams they would need to beat to even make it to the NBA Finals.
If the Blazers add Durant and don’t win it all this season, they would find themselves in a situation where Lillard and Durant take up over 60 percent of their salary cap space, leaving very little wiggle room to put a strong team around them.
The Cost Of Durant
To get the Nets interested, it would likely have to start with Shaedon Sharpe along with Anfernee Simons or Jerami Grant and Josh Hart (to make the salaries work) plus a pick. To include a pick, the Blazers would need to release the protection on the Bulls’ pick they sent to Chicago in the Larry Nance deal.
Obtaining Durant might cost them two first-round picks and a collection of exciting young players who they could build around for years to come. It’s just not worth the risk.
A trade for Durant would mean mortgaging any future the Blazers currently have while opening up a 2.5-season championship window that would most likely end in disappointment. While moving players like Sharpe and Hart may help the Blazers become more competitive, Durant alone does not make them a championship contender.