When the Portland Trail Blazers traded CJ McCollum to the New Orleans Pelicans this season, they admitted defeat. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though.
The Blazers admitted that the pairing of McCollum and Damian Lillard isn’t good enough to compete for an NBA Championship (which it probably isn’t). Or, at the very least, they admitted that they needed to shake things up.
Now, with the hiring of Joe Cronin as GM, Portland is committed to building around Lillard. As the offseason begins, the rumors will start to trickle in, and the first of those rumors has already arrived.
Does Zach LaVine make sense for the Portland Trail Blazers?
On The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst hinted that some people around the league think Zach LaVine could end up leaving the Chicago Bulls this summer. He then went on to list the Blazers as a potential destination.
Portland is one of the few teams projected to have any cap space this summer. According to Spotrac, the Blazers will have roughly $21 million in cap space this summer, and that’s before any potential trades they make.
But the real question is, would it be worth it for the Trail Blazers to go after LaVine? The two-time All-Star is likely to be the best free agent on the market, but does that mean he’s worth the money for Portland?
That’s a tricky question.
On the one hand, the Blazers need as much talent as they can get. Their team as it stands is nowhere near championship-caliber, and it may not even be good enough to make the playoffs.
Adding LaVine would certainly help them make the postseason, but that’s not the end goal for Lillard and the Blazers. They want to win a championship.
After spending years and years trying to build around an offensive-minded backcourt that struggles on the defensive side of the floor, would signing another offensive-minded guard who struggles on the defensive side of the floor really be a good investment?
While LaVine is younger and more athletic than McCollum, the Blazers would still be left with a similar backcourt to the one that never made it past the Western Conference Finals.
So, while the Blazers need to get as much talent as possible, LaVine might not be the best target. But who knows, maybe LaVine and Lillard could make it work.