The Portland Trail Blazers going star hunting only to wind up with Ja Morant, a polarizing guard who is a poor fit for this roster, seems like a lateral move. They didn't really do enough to push them up the Western Conference tiers, as this is likely still a team that has to fight to escape a play-in spot next season.
That said, it's hard to view this offseason as a net negative when the Blazers achieved what was arguably the most important thing all along, retaining those Milwaukee Bucks picks acquired in the Damian Lillard deal. Picks that gained value over the summer as the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade saga reached its conclusion with South Beach finally finding its long-desired superstar.
Blazers were right to prioritize Bucks picks this offseason
The last thing the Blazers wanted to do this offseason was sacrifice those increasingly valuable draft assets for a star who wasn't going to be enough to put them into contention conversations. GM Joe Cronin also had to deal with the reality that comes with a small-to-mid market like Portland, risking either a short-term rental or a potentially disgruntled star had they acquired someone who didn't want to come here.
That's also what's gone underrated in the Jrue Holiday trade: the fact that they landed someone of his caliber who has embraced his new team, city, and role is an important factor people to consider in these types of deals. It's a specific type of star the Blazers have to be willing to make this aggressive trade on because if they don't land someone who shares a similar level of buy-in as Holiday has, it would only make this existing two-timeline approach even worse.
It's not as important in the Morant deal, considering the low risk of assets surrendered. He's also already seems to be buying into his change of scenery. Anything they get from his arrival is just a bonus because they didn't surrender any of those Bucks picks this summer, keeping their rebuild right on track regardless.
Portland still has a bright future to look forward to right now. Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey recently ranked every team by their current trade assets, and Portland came in at No. 9. The one thing Bailey emphasized was how valuable those Bucks picks were in the Blazers' ranking inside the top ten, saying it's "what really boosts their stash."
Even with the NBA changing its lottery odds in response to tanking at an inopportune time for Portland, it's still looking like some of the most valuable draft picks in the entire league. It's rare for a team to be in the Blazers' situation where they bet against a team's future, only to have that team trade its superstar and embrace a rebuild without even having their own picks as incentive to do so.
They weren't just going to give that up for an imperfect-fitting star this summer. Instead, they found one for cheap.
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