The Portland Trail Blazers just went through perhaps the most trying offseason in the organization’s history. They traded franchise centerpiece and beloved superstar Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. They landed the No. 3 overall pick in the draft and selected a potential mega-star and possible Lillard replacement in Scoot Henderson.
There were other trades as well, including flipping Jrue Holiday to the Boston Celtics. Portland collected valuable future draft picks and made additional moves in free agency.
The 2023-24 Blazers roster looks dramatically different than what head coach Chauncey Billups had at his disposal at any point last season. But did all these offseason decisions make sense? Is the team better prepared for the future? How did Portland General Manager Joe Cronin do this offseason?
Grading the most significant moves of the Portland Trail Blazers offseason
The Lillard and Holiday trades were two of the franchise-altering moves the Blazers made this summer, but as a sort of honorable mention category, here’s a list of the slew of smaller transactions Portland made:
- Drafted Kris Murray with No. 23 pick
- Drafted Rayan Rupert with No. 43 pick
- Signed C Ibou Badji and F John Butler Jr. to two-way contracts
- Signed C Moses Brown
- Signed G Skylar Mays
- Signed F/C George Conditt
- Waived Antoine Davis, Malachi Smith, Jeenathan Williams