Ranking 3 possible outcomes for rest of Trail Blazers season

Blazers and Knicks make the playoffs

This is another scenario that would benefit the Blazers. They would send their pick to the Bulls and keep the Knicks pick, which would satisfy the Stepien Rule that states teams cannot trade consecutive first-round picks.

This again would allow Portland to trade future first-rounders, as their pick owed to Chicago would convey. Although it isn’t optimal from an asset collection perspective, making the playoffs with the current squad likely helps the Blazers in a few key ways.

To start, making the play-in tournament will give this young Blazers group some much-needed playoff experience. Winning the play-in tournament and entering the playoffs as the No. 8 seed would be a huge moral victory for this team.

That energy could be carried into next season with another star on the roster to help propel them to a better playoff seed.

Making the playoffs with this squad will make it easier to convince a star that the team is only a piece or two away from being a true contender. Part of the reason that Kevin Durant wanted to play for the Phoenix Suns is that he could be the missing piece that could win he and Phoenix a championship.

As it stands, the sentiment is that the Blazers are likely a couple of pieces away from true contention, but making the playoffs would change that.

Re-signing Jerami Grant would be a lot easier if the Blazers can give him a taste of the playoffs. Grant may re-sign with the Blazers regardless of how this season finishes, but showing him that the team is close to contention will go a long way toward making his re-signing easier.