The playoffs are still going, but it has already been an interesting offseason for the Portland Trail Blazers, whose season ended at the beginning of June at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. The Blazers and longtime head coach Terry Stotts went their separate ways after nine seasons.
Soon after, the Blazers had their candidates, and then a few weeks after that, it was announced that former NBA Champion and Finals MVP, five-time All-Star and LA Clippers assistant coach, Chauncey Billups, would be taking over the reins in Portland. It was a wild coaching search that came with some public backlash that you can read about here.
Another wrinkle to this offseason for the Blazers is that Damian Lillard expressed concerns about staying in Portland for the rest of his career. This is the first time the front office or fanbase has had to be worried about losing their superstar.
The Portland Trail Blazers are heading into the 2021 NBA free agency period with some holes to fill. Here are some goals for the Blazers.
Plenty of things need to happen for the Blazers to become one of the top contenders in the league, and if the people running the team want to keep Lillard around, those things need to happen quickly.
One of the first steps in improving the roster comes in the free agency. Portland doesn’t have a ton of cap space to make a big splash in free agency, but they have enough tools to fill some holes. Depending on what happens with Norman Powell, Derrick Jones Jr. and Zach Collins, the Blazers could have up to seven open roster spots.
Portland’s president of basketball operations, Neil Olshey, has a lot of work to do this summer to make Lillard, the fans and Blazers owner Jody Allen happy. Here some goals the Blazers should be looking to achieve this 2021 free agency.