December 15 is the date that NBA fans must circle on their calendars, as it's when trade restrictions on offseason signings are lifted. That should be significant for the Portland Trail Blazers, who have a fatal roster flaw that is long overdue for addressing: their horrific shooting.
For Portland, the two players eligible to be traded next month are Damian Lillard (can veto) and Blake Wesley. But more importantly, one sharpshooting option available on that date who makes perfect sense to target is Atlanta Hawks guard Luke Kennard.
Luke Kennard is quietly one of the best shooters in NBA history
The Hawks wisely added Kennard to their roster this summer on a one-year, $11 million deal. This season, he's averaging 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 49/43/92 shooting splits. He's quietly not only one of the best shooters in the league, but also in NBA history.
Kennard has connected on an impressive 43.8% of his 2,106 three-point attempts throughout his career. Among qualified players who have attempted at least 100 threes in their career, that efficiency ranks third behind only Steve Kerr (45.4% on 1,599 attempts) and Hubert Davis (44.1% on 1,651 attempts). Kennard also shot an absurd 49.4% from beyond the arc in the 2022-23 season, which was the ninth-best three-point shooting season of all time in terms of percentage (and on higher volume than anyone ahead of him, too).
That seems like a player the Blazers could use, no?
The Blazers can't afford to ignore their fatal flaw any longer
Portland ranked in the bottom five in three-point efficiency the past two seasons. Unsurprisingly, they currently rank third-worst this season at an abysmal 32.4%. That's what happens when you go from Anfernee Simons to Jrue Holiday with no additional offseason moves to help address that downgrade in the shooting department. To make matters worse, the shooting of building blocks Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara is somehow trending downwards early in their careers.
The Blazers now sit at 6-9 in a loaded Western Conference with a demanding schedule that isn't getting easier anytime soon. The poor shooting was anticipated, but their supposedly elite defense is falling well short of expectations. It's already become apparent that the Blazers won't be considered legitimate playoff contenders until they add more shooting to this roster. That's why it was so puzzling that they didn't address this weakness over the summer. General manager Joe Cronin made a win-now move by adding Holiday, but then just stopped trying to balance out the roster to make that win-now move worthwhile.
Adding shooting isn't just essential in the short term; they also desperately need it to further develop their existing core. Deni Avdija and Sharpe are having breakout seasons, but they are doing this despite frequently attacking a congested paint. Having someone like Kennard out there to keep defenses honest and space the floor will help open up the entire offense.
It's a move that should've been made a long time ago. But hopefully, when December 15 comes around, the Blazers will finally realize they can no longer afford to keep putting off this fatal roster flaw.