All messages out of Portland have the Trail Blazers – front office, coaching staff, players alike – screaming for veteran help.
Considering where the franchise is in its goal of building a title-contending team around Damian Lillard, all that noise makes sense.
Take Lillard himself, for example. After the Blazers season-ending embarrassment at the hands of the Golden State Warriors, Dame, when asked about continuing to build through the draft, said via The Athletic:
"I’m just not interested in that. That’s not a secret. I want a chance to go for it. And if the route is to (draft youth), then that’s not my route."
It wasn’t meant to be an ultimatum, according to Lillard (it sure has all the familiar symptoms of an ultimatum), but a blunt truth: If you want to win with me here, stop running your mouths and do something to help. If not, I’m out.
That four-sentence statement includes another key element – enough with the youth movement. If Portland is going to keep drafting teenagers with top-10 picks, then why is Dame sticking around?
To that end, if general manager Joe Cronin decides to heed Lillard’s message and deal away a high lottery pick, which teams should he have on speed dial if he wants to get commensurate value?
1. Boston Celtics
The big fish here is Jaylen Brown. The Celtics’ No. 2 option behind Jayson Tatum has morphed into a No. 1a option during an All-NBA caliber year.
The 26-year-old finished the regular season ninth in the league in scoring at 26.6 points per game. He shot 49 percent from the floor, which bested Tatum, and connected on 33.5 percent of his 7.3 threes a night.
(He is a 36.5 percent career 3-point shooter and has displayed the clutch gene, finding a way to hit shots when his team needs it most).
Brown has been one of the best wing defenders in the NBA since he was drafted third overall in 2016, as evidenced by his receiving All-Defense voting shares five out of his seven seasons in the league.
It would take a massive haul to land Brown, but he certainly qualifies as the type of player Lillard and Portland’s front office are looking for. In fact, the former Cal standout has already been named as a desirable acquisition for the Blazers.
It’s not worth having a team on speed dial, though, if you’re only calling about one player.
Although Boston only brought him aboard last season, guard Malcolm Brogdon, a favorite to win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, would be a perfect fit as a bigger playmaker and scorer in the backcourt and a chance of pace to Lillard and Simons.
Robert Williams III is a young, athletic big on a team-friendly contract who could slot in as a power forward or center and provide the kind of defense and rebounding Portland needs – although it’s worth noting he has a lengthy injury history.
Brown would be the white whale in Boston, but the Celtics have other players who could make a significant difference next to Dame.
2. Miami Heat
Miami stumbled into the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament this season, a far cry from where the Heat expect to finish each campaign. With a core duo of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, Miami is usually a reliable threat in the playoffs.
Perhaps the end of the 2022-23 season will force the brain trust in South Beach to consider a mini rebuild on the fly with the goal of getting younger and more dynamic offensively.
If that’s the case, Simons would make sense as an attractive second piece of any deal involving the Blazers’ lottery selection.
Adebayo played with Lillard on Team USA in the 2020 Olympics, as did Jerami Grant, which is at least part of the reason Grant landed in Portland.
Bam would drastically alter the Blazers defensively. The 25-year-old has been named NBA Second-Team All-Defense each of the last three seasons and is finishing up his best offensive campaign as well, averaging a career-high 20.4 points. He’s always been an underrated facilitator in the frontcourt, too – he averaged more than 5 assists in 2019-20 and 20-21.
Butler could be an under-the-radar thought if Cronin can convince Heat President Pat Riley to partner in a league-wide shakeup. Despite his age, Butler remains an All-NBA player and would provide the Blazers’ young guns a shining of example of the competitive qualities it takes to win.
Nikola Jovic could be an upside play as a possible long-term answer at center, as well, if Portland has interest.
3. Toronto Raptors
Raptors President Masai Ujiri will keep teams guessing all offseason, just as he did at the trade deadline in February. Toronto was expected to start piecing apart its roster with players like OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet ever-present on the market.
Instead, Ujiri zagged when he was supposed to zig and sent a first-round pick, along with a pair of second rounders, to San Antonio to add center Jakob Poeltl.
Still, the Raptors just bowed out of the playoff chase after losing to the Chicago Bulls in the East play-in tournament. Will that be the impetus for an offseason of change in Toronto, or will it just make Ujiri more determined to fix the core he’s built?
VanVleet is a free agent, as is former Blazer Gary Trent Jr. Poeltl needs an extension as well, unless the Raptors decide to punt and waste a first-round pick.
Turnover is going to be inevitable in Toronto this summer, and maybe Portland can use that to its advantage.
The Blazers were a player in the Anunoby sweepstakes leading up to the trade deadline and could (perhaps should) revisit that situation. It would take a ton to land Siakam, but it sounds like the sort of move Portland could be desperate enough to make.
Again, Simons would be a perfect fit for a team starved for a shot creator, especially in the backcourt. He would also align more closely with the timeline of Scottie Barnes, who it appears the Raptors plan to build the franchise around.
If Cronin is finally going to do what he hasn’t yet – and what his predecessor Neil Olshey never accomplished – and take a major swing, these three teams could potentially scratch Lillard’s itch for another superstar.