Overall
At the beginning of the 2019 offseason, the Portland Trail Blazers knew there was work to be done on the roster. There were questions at just about every position.
The only concrete thing that fans knew about next season is that Damian Lillard and Cj McCollum would again lead Rip City onto the hardwood.
Other than the core of Dame, CJ and Jusuf Nurkic, who would the Blazers acquire and who would step into a different role? With many players leaving or being traded away, there were new opportunities for new players to join the roster.
No single move the Blazers made this offseason seemed without reason, whether it be bringing in Hassan Whiteside to replace Nurkic, or signing Pau Gasol to a one-year contract because of his leadership, experience and added depth to the frontcourt.
These roster moves all make sense for one reason or another.
It was painfully obvious that the Blazers were very close last season to making a complete breakthrough to the NBA Finals. To put it simply, the roster was not good enough to do so just yet.
Plus, after the many offseason moves that opened up the Western Conference, the Blazers are in a perfect spot to compete for a championship yet again.
The organization as a whole recognized this fact and decided to make some changes to make the team better.
With moves that both secured the future and allow for success in the short term, the new roster is something that could be a force in the Western Conference.
Portland addressed the problems of injuries, lack of production at small forward, securing Lillard for the future and adding important role players. All of this was done while giving younger guys more time to mature and leaving the team’s core intact.
Their trades and signings make sense, but there are still burning questions about each and every new player on the team. Nobody knows how this season will play out, but it does look promising for the Blazer faithful.