A 4-team mega-trade involving the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler

Portland Trail Blazers

After bombing out 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs, the Blazers are as likely as any team in the loaded Western Conference to make changes to their current roster.

Once again, it was the dynamic backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum that was instrumental in the Blazers racking up 49 wins on their way to finishing third in the Western Conference standings. Put simply, Lillard was sublime, averaging 26.9 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game on the way to his third All-Star game selection. Furthermore, Lillard finished fourth in MVP voting and was selected to the All-NBA First Team.

For his part, McCollum was exceptional in averaging 21.4 points per game while making 81 regular season appearances. However, his contributions in the postseason stood out among the Blazers’ struggles. Over the four-game sweep, the fifth-year shooting guard posted 25.3 points per game while returning excellent .519/.423/.769 shooting splits.

Aside from this duo, the other notable contributor on the Blazers’ roster was center Jusuf Nurkic. In his first full season with the Blazers, the 23-year-old averaged 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Now a restricted free agent, the Blazers have an important impending decision to make if they wish to utilize Nurkic as a building block moving forward.

However, in terms of making a significant change to their roster, one of the Lillard-McCollum duo will almost certainly need to be moved. Therefore, the Blazers will need to weigh up the various pros and cons before deciding which direction to take this summer.