Should the Portland Trail Blazers finally trade Damian Lillard?

Should the Portland Trail Blazers finally trade Damian Lillard?: The pros

Since reaching the Western Conference Finals in the 2018/19 season, the Blazers have stagnated and have exited the postseason in the first round of their last two campaigns.

Despite Lillard almost beating the Denver Nuggets by himself in game five last season, Portland would go on to lose by 11 in the last game of the series, which was preceded by a 4-1 series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the prior postseason.

This season, even making the playoffs looks in doubt. The Trail Blazers currently sit 10th in the Western Conference with an 11-14 record and have lost six of the last seven games. The only win of that run came against the rebuilding Detroit Pistons.

The team’s offense has never been in question, but time and time again the team has been let down by its woeful defense. Despite securing the sixth seed last season, the Blazers finished the year with the second-worst defensive rating in the NBA, giving up 115.3 points per 100 possessions.

And this year, despite recently fired GM Olshey claiming after last season that the dreadful defensive numbers were “not a product of the roster”, a head coaching change has done little to improve things on that end of the floor. The team currently has the worst defense in the entire NBA by giving up 112.9 points per 100 possessions.

Clearly, part of the problem is the Lillard and McCollum backcourt. Both are small guards that are not particularly good defenders despite what they bring on offense.

But this is not the only issue. Bringing in Powell – a 6’4 guard that is used to defend bigger wing matchups – has not had the desired effect. Nurkic has not had the same impact defensively since he broke his leg and Robert Covington has not been able to carry the defensive burden alone despite his talents on that end of the floor.

The Blazers are not one or even two moves away from being serious title contenders. This team is a way off the likes of Golden State and Phoenix in the West and needs a considerable overhaul of the roster to improve defensively, especially given that there is little defensive help coming off the bench.

But could Portland really use the pieces around Dame to get him a team that can contend? Unless there is a Ben Simmons trade (who Damian Lillard has reportedly expressed an interest in playing with) out there that does not include the Blazers point guard, it’s unlikely.

Furthermore, it’s no secret that Lillard wants to win a title. And while he wants to win in Portland, that might not be possible. The longer this uncertainty over Portland’s future goes on, the more that becomes an issue.

From the Blazers’ perspective, however, Lillard’s recent injury problems should be a cause for concern. He recently said that he has been playing with his abdominal injury “for a few years now” and that he is “kind of immune to playing with it,” but it seems to have gotten worse recently.

If there is no solution to Portland’s problems by keeping Dame, starting over might be the better option. The Blazers cannot win a title with the current roster construction and a dry trade market means strengthening the team around Dame is tricky.

And if there is a time to start a rebuild, it’s now. There are some incredibly talented and exciting prospects coming up in this year’s draft with the likes of Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, Jabari Smith, Jaden Hardy, and plenty of others. Looking to the future might not be so bad.

But Portland cannot go down the draft route and keep Lillard who, at 31, does not have the time to wait for players to develop into NBA stars for a title challenge in a few years.