The Portland Trail Blazers have a prime opportunity to compete in the Western Conference next year, especially with Damian Lillard returning from his Achilles injury. However, Lillard better hope the Blazers avoid the same Stephen Curry mistake the Golden State Warriors have made in recent years: Playing two timelines.
For a while, the Warriors tried to win with the old guard and the new guard at the same time. And in 2022, they did win. But it was all downhill from there as Golden State tried to play with two timelines. Eventually, they traded most of the new guard, and Curry hasn’t sniffed a Finals since 2022.
Lillard needs the Blazers to take this chance much more seriously.
Warriors tried to play two timelines with Stephen Curry, Blazers can't do the same with Damian Lillard
Jordan Poole helped the Warriors win in 2022, but after a while, it became clear that he wasn’t a fit in Golden State. The Warriors ended up trading him away.
James Wiseman was the No. 2 overall pick for the Warriors, but he didn’t pan out. They ended up trading him, and now, he’s out of the league. He just wasn’t good enough.
Then, there’s Jonathan Kuminga. He and the Warriors endured a pretty public spat for years, and it wasn’t until this past season that they finally traded him to the Atlanta Hawks.
But by the time the Warriors started trying to restructure things around Curry with bigger deals – Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, etc. – it felt a bit too late.
The Blazers now find themselves in a very interesting position. They have Lillard, Jrue Holiday, and some veterans, but also a solid young core with the likes of Deni Avdija, Scoot Henderson, Donovan Clingan, and Shaedon Sharpe.
This isn’t an argument for the Blazers to gut their young core. They should keep building them up. But they shouldn’t place the development of their young core over the chance of winning.
Portland needs to stay aggressive on the trade market. Find ways of adding big-time pieces to this team. See if there is a star available for trade who could help Lillard and Avdija.
It’s hard to win in the NBA nowadays, especially in the Western Conference. But the Blazers have a ton of talent. Lillard will be back, and they have a real chance to build on the success they had this season.
Instead of sitting back and just assuming their youth will develop, the Blazers should try to see what trades are available to help them significantly improve this summer.
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