The Portland Trail Blazers missed out on Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who was acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers in a relatively cheap deal that Portland could've easily outbid if GM Joe Cronin wanted to pull the trigger. Philadelphia packaged Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks to land the 2024 Finals MVP.
Portland's decision to stand pat makes its roster construction and decision to trade for Ja Morant in particular all the more puzzling. They have now missed out on multiple stars who fit better, and quite frankly, are better, than Morant. Between Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball, and now Brown, Portland continues to whiff on star trade targets.
This one is perhaps the most confusing of them all. Antetokounmpo wasn't going to commit to staying in Portland long-term. Ball was a murky fit with a few red flags. But Brown was neither of those. He was a proven champion still under contract for multiple seasons.
This has been a confusing offseason in Portland
Overall, it's been an underwhelming offseason for the Blazers. If they enter the 2026-27 season with Morant as their blockbuster move, it's going to be another quick playoff stint for Portland.
Brown would've been a legitimate needle-mover who could have elevated this team to make a deep playoff run. It remains to be seen whether Cronin even wants to find a needle-mover of that caliber or is content to let this play out and head into the season with four point guards on the roster. Hopefully, he's not finished cooking, and Morant is just one ingredient rather than the entree itself.
If Portland does want to get aggressive, they're running out of options. The one remaining star trade target who makes sense to pivot to at this point is a New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III.
A Trey Muprhy III trade would salvage the Blazers' summer
Murphy checks every box for what Portland should be pursuing this summer in terms of both talent and fit. Floor spacing for Deni Avdija's downhill game, defensive versatility to double down on Portland's identity, a reasonable contract, and a perfect match for the timeline of their building blocks.
He's not the same level star as Brown, and could even be more expensive to acquire in terms of assets surrendered after seeing how little Philadelphia had to give up. That said, it's the one move that can save the Blazers' underwhelming and confusing offseason.
In a vacuum, landing Morant for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray is solid value. It's an upside play to add talent in-house without sacrificing the future. But if that's Portland's lone trade, it suddenly becomes far more difficult to make sense of it all.
A Morant-Damian Lillard backcourt is a major defensive liability, defeating the purpose of their established identity. Morant is also one of the worst shooting point guards in the league, further compounding an existing Blazers roster weakness. Essentially every reason two-way wings like Brown and Murphy fit this roster perfectly are the exact reasons Morant is a horrible fit.
Hopefully, Portland can target Murphy to achieve a better roster balance and compensate for the weaknesses the Morant trade has exacerbated. But at this point, we're wondering whether Portland is even actively pursuing these level trades.
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