The Portland Trail Blazers need to seriously consider blowing it up

The Portland Trail Blazers have been a middle-of-the-pack team for what feels like the last decade. Sure, they’ve made some playoff runs, but they’ve never even reached the NBA Finals.

Now, they look like they could struggle to even reach the playoffs this season. The Western Conference has a lot of young and hungry teams fighting for the play-in spot, and they could end up being on the outside looking in.

The Portland Trail Blazers have been a mess so far this season

This offseason, there were rumors that Damian Lillard could look to request a trade. While Lillard put those rumors to bed, the Trail Blazers haven’t made that decision an easy one.

The hiring of Chauncey Billups has been constantly called into question, and there have even been rumors this season that a rift is forming between him and the team.

On top of that, the Blazers had to fire their GM, Neil Olshey, earlier this season amidst allegations of violations of their code of conduct. The off-the-court mess is just as bad as their on-the-court issues.

All-in-all, it has come to the point where the Portland Trail Blazers need to seriously consider blowing things up. The team seems adamant about putting a contending team around Lillard, but that doesn’t seem as though it’ll happen any time soon.

The Portland Trail Blazers need to seriously consider blowing it up

By the time Lillard’s current contract is up, the point guard will be 34 years old. Based on recent reports, he’ll be wanting another max contract extension then, too.

Although Lillard is a top 100 player of all time and a perennial All-NBA player, paying someone that old that much money is rarely a good idea. Especially when that player has never been able to win a title.

Realistically speaking, the Blazers might be best off selling high on Lillard before he begins regressing as he gets older. They would still get some big-time offers for him now that would allow them to kickstart a rebuild.

Even if the Blazers were able to get a co-star in exchange for CJ McCollum, they have to ask themselves – would a duo of Lillard and another All-Star be enough to compete with the Brooklyn Nets? The Milwaukee Bucks? The Golden State Warriors? Probably not.

All things point to the Portland Trail Blazers doing everything possible to compete. That’s what they want to do, but in reality, it’s probably not the best basketball decision.

If the Blazers want to get back to mainstream success as soon as possible, gutting their roster is probably the best path forward. The truth hurts, but it’s the truth regardless.