The Portland Trail Blazers made some underrated moves on the margins this offseason. We're already seeing that pay off in first practice on Tuesday, when head coach Micah Nori identified former Oklahoma City Thunder big man Branden Carlson as the standout performer.
But another overlooked move that should pay huge dividends for Portland this season was actually their trade that came at February's deadline last season: the acquisition of Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Vit Krejci.
The Blazers were expected to be buyers at the deadline to give themselves a boost for an end-of-season playoff push. General manager Joe Cronin was surprisingly quieter than expected, deciding to package center Duop Reath and two future second-round picks for Krejci instead.
It ultimately was enough to make the postseason anyway, and that was despite Krejci struggling to find his footing in his new home.
VIt Krejci will bounce back in a huge way for the Blazers this season
"Shooter" is the first word you use to describe Krejci, but the Monstars may have zapped his powers or something because that was not the case for Portland. Fortunately, it was just a limited sample size of 19 games, but still a surprisingly inefficient 30.3 percent from deep.
This is someone who hovered around 40 percent the past three years with the Hawks, and is arguably one of the most underrated shooters in the league. All signs point to Krejci regressing to the mean for the Blazers, which should provide them with a much-needed shooting boost this season.
But Krejci's production goes beyond the Blazers' need for shooting, as they find themselves thin at the wing after moving on from Kris Murray, Jerami Grant, and Matisse Thybulle this offseason.
Instead of filling the void with replacements, Cronin decided to add even more point guards and centers to this imbalanced roster. He addressed that decision at Media Day, noting that it was a testament to their confidence in the group of wings they do have.
Jrue Holiday playing more small forward this season should also help, but this wing depth will largely fall on the shoulders of Krejci and Sidy Cissoko. Two very contrasting playstyles, meaning it will be important for Nori to be able to rely on both in different situations.
That wasn't the case towards the end of the season with Splitter and Krejci, though this fresh start to the season is a reason for optimism that Krejci will get his shooting back in Portland. With most of the attention on Portland's newest offseason additions, don't overlook the boost a more reliable Krejci will provide this depleted wing unit off the bench.
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