The Portland Trail Blazers have stockpiled assets throughout their patient rebuild. They now have tremendous flexibility heading into a pivotal offseason, with the combination of draft capital, youth, and veterans to take this roster in a variety of directions.
Portland will look to build off its first postseason appearance in five years. In the process, they have also had multiple players successfully boost their trade value around the league. While the Blazers shouldn't necessarily trade all these players, it's at least worth listening to offers to see how much their value has risen.
1. Jrue Holiday
Holiday's resurgent season as a lead guard proved he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, and that his declining stats in Boston were more a result of his role and injuries than anything else. Portland is expected to receive trade interest for Holiday this summer, validating their Anfernee Simons trade last offseason.
The Blazers' veteran guard expressed his desire to stay and continue building in Rip City. Still, Portland must at least listen to offers around the league. A contender could be willing to pay a premium for Holiday, hoping he's the piece to get them over the top, as has been the case with his stops in Milwaukee and Boston.
2. Jerami Grant
Last summer, Grant was among the league's most negative assets. His contract didn't align with the production as a one-dimensional, score-first forward struggling with his shooting efficiency. The Blazers made the right decision to bring Grant off the bench, where he was free to play to his strengths and provide a defensive-minded second unit with a much-needed scoring punch. That contributed to Grant's bounce-back year.
Whether it was enough for Portland to finally shed Grant's contract remains to be seen. But it's at least more likely to see a scenario in which the Blazers can move Grant without attaching valuable future assets.
3. Scoot Henderson
An untimely hamstring tear limited Henderson to 30 games played. He found his rhythm just in time to contribute to Portland's playoff push, showcasing the ceiling that made him such a coveted prospect.
While Henderson struggled with inconsistency, he overall showed development on both sides of the ball. A team could be more inclined to take a gamble on Henderson continuing that progress, especially given how long guards take to develop in the NBA.
It's been quite the rollercoaster season, with the highs and lows being at extremes. But if Scoot can put those good stretches together on a more consistent basis, he could become a long-term starting point guard. Hopefully that's in Portland, but if the Blazers want to go star hunting, they'll have to break up at least part of their young core. And Henderson just boosted his value at the perfect time to potentially make a splash.
Add us as a preferred source on Google