Portland Trail Blazers: 5 offseason roster moves they need to make

Portland Trail Blazers offseason move No. 2: Trade for Ben Simmons

Ever since the Trail Blazers appointed their new head coach, Chauncey Billups, there have been rumblings coming out of Oregon. One of these is that Damian Lillard wants out. He has denied them but as the old adage goes, where there’s smoke there’s fire.

The fortunate thing is that Ben Simmons might be the perfect fit for the Blazers. They already have a really good shooter in CJ McCollum who can space the floor. Simmons has the ability to see passes that others can’t thanks to his height and the skill to make them.

It is unlikely that he will see the court with the Philadelphia 76ers due to the comments made by their coach, Doc Rivers, and the comments made by Joel Embiid who practically blamed Simmons. The 76ers have also made it known what they want for Simmons via trade.

While his free throw shooting is a problem, so was Markelle Fultz’s before he went to a lower intensity environment. His shooting percentage has become respectable which is all Simmons needs to be a key contributor at all times on the court.

The biggest problem with this deal is that Lillard has a super-max deal that is worth about $12 million a season more. If the 76ers were guaranteed to get Lillard they would involve another player or another team to get this deal done.