The Portland Trail Blazers are at a crossroads. They have a Hall of Fame guard still at the tail end of his prime, but Damian Lillard won’t be a top-10 player forever. On the other hand, they have the No. 3 pick in this year’s NBA Draft and a pair of young guards in Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe.
The Blazers have attempted, until now, to thread the needle, drafting and developing young talent while holding onto Lillard and signing Jerami Grant last offseason. With Grant hitting free agency this summer, the Blazers again have to make a decision on their future.
How do the Portland Trail Blazers trade for a co-star for Lillard?
Trading Lillard is a possibility, but it could be decades before the Blazers get another player as good as Lillard. The more likely path forward is for Portland to look for a co-star to slot in between Lillard and Grant in the pecking order.
With Sharpe showing flashes of greatness and the Blazers needing matching salary for any trade that brings back a star, Simons looks like the clear option to go out in a deal. Who could Portland be targeting in such a trade?
Here are four options the Blazers should look into when they go shopping for a star.
Portland should trade Simons for Kristaps Porzingis
If the Trail Blazers want to find a trade partner to add a co-star without moving the No. 3 pick or dealing Sharpe, Kristaps Porzingis is the type of player they should target. The Latvian center had a bounceback year for the Washington Wizards this past season and is in line for a payday this summer.
With the Wizards stuck in the same middle-class mediocrity as the Blazers, except without the occasional highs that Lillard has brought to Portland, their new general manager, Michael Winger, could lead the franchise in a rebuild. If so, Porzingis would be a logical trade target for the Blazers.
The 7-foot-3 center averaged a career-best 23.2 points per game along with 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game last year. He has come into his inheritance as the true NBA “unicorn” with his combination of shooting and shot-blocking; only six players in NBA history have had 1.5 blocks and 2.1 3-pointers per game in a season, and Porzingis is the only one to do it twice, including this past season.
Trading a package centered around Simons and the No. 23 pick for Porzingis would create a nasty pick-and-pop combination with Lillard and Porzingis, with Grant deployed at the 4 to cause havoc defensively and act as a secondary shot creator.
It’s not the highest-upside option, and Porzingis comes with plenty of injury risk, but this allows the Blazers to use the No. 3 pick on a top prospect or in another trade.
Portland should trade Simons for Jaylen Brown
The Boston Celtics were denied a return trip to the NBA Finals by the Miami Heat, and a major contributing factor was the play of Jaylen Brown. He shot poorly for the entire Eastern Conference Finals and was a turnover machine, getting to 25 total in the seven-game series. When asked to step up and take on the playmaking load, he couldn’t do it.
That bitter taste and public failure is dragging down both his public image and his internal opinion within the Celtics organization, but it also means there is a very real buy-low opportunity for a team like the Trail Blazers. Brown is miscast as a lead ball-handler, but he is a legitimate two-way wing who can shoot, score, defend and fill in the gaps for a team.
A package of Simons and the No. 3 pick would give the Blazers a devastating forward combination with Brown and Grant. There is every reason to think that Brown can play better with a true playmaker running the offense, something Jayson Tatum isn’t quite capable of doing.
The Celtics could flip that pick to another team for a win-now upgrade or diversify their timeline by adding Brandon Miller or Scoot Henderson to give Tatum a future co-star. Simons would give them plenty of offensive juice, too, on a team with the defensive infrastructure to support him.
It’s not a slam dunk, but Brown looks like an excellent fit on Portland.
Portland should trade Simons for Pascal Siakam
The Trail Blazers have excelled at drafting, developing and deploying guards over the past dozen years, starting with Lillard and CJ McCollum and continuing to Gary Trent Jr., Simons, and Sharpe.
Where they have struggled is drafting forwards.
They traded McCollum for the trade exception that became Grant, and they could make another guard-for-forward swap this summer. The ideal complement to Grant’s shooting and defense would be a forward with size, passing and interior scoring; that sounds like a recipe for “Spicy P”.
Pascal Siakam has blossomed into a two-time All-NBA combo forward with the Raptors, cutting his teeth under DeMar DeRozan and Kawhi Leonard before stepping up into a leading role. He has a surprisingly good off-the-dribble game, good passing instincts and the strength to finish inside. Defensively he isn’t elite, but he can function well as the second frontcourt option alongside Grant.
The question becomes whether the Raptors will move Siakam for a package involving Simons without the No. 3 pick being involved. Can the Blazers send the No. 23 pick, Jarace Walker and some future draft capital to get it done? Probably not, so the question becomes whether the No. 3 pick can be in play.
Siakam looks like a great addition to the team, but would he elevate them into contender status?
Portland should trade Simons for Brandon Ingram
The biggest swing the Trail Blazers can probably make this summer is for a young All-Star-level forward. Perhaps that is Jaylen Brown, but an even more intriguing pick is New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram.
Could Portland talk the Pels into trading their slim star?
The Pelicans certainly have reasons to want to keep Ingram, given his youth and production thus far. On the other hand, building around Zion Williamson likely means getting more shooting surrounding him. Trey Murphy III could be a better fit at small forward if they can instead find a stretch big and more backcourt help.
Simons can give a jolt to their backcourt scoring, and the No. 3 pick can lead to another blue-chip prospect or, more interestingly, a trade chip to go after another player. That pick is a massive asset and, if the Pelicans are beginning to entertain the possibility of moving Ingram, now could be the time to strike.
The Trail Blazers would have an incredible frontcourt combo in Ingram and Grant, and when paired with Lillard, would give Portland a top-tier offensive attack. Ingram also has the length and attributes to be a plus defender, even if his lack of strength and heft prevents him from being a difference-maker.
If Simons provides the best avenue to a frontcourt co-star, the Blazers shouldn’t hesitate to move him. Lillard is in his prime right now, and finding a way to give him and this time a shot at the title should be their top priority.