Now that the Portland Trail Blazers are officially eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, let’s take a look at five offseason needs to improve their team.
Two consecutive years in the playoffs for the Portland Trail Blazers, both ending at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. The Blazers have a young, superstar duo in their backcourt, with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who seem to be taking a step forward each year.
The Blazers were able to make a sweet mid-season trade that brought them Jusuf Nurkic from the Nuggets, who helped their porous interior defense. Unfortunately, Nurkic was sidelined during the playoffs with a broken leg, but he should be an integral piece heading into next season.
Portland’s best asset heading into the offseason may not even be a player, it might be the three first-rounds picks they’ve obtained from trades with Denver and Cleveland. In the 2017 NBA Draft, the Blazers will have picks No. 15, 20 and 26.
It’s good that they have all those draft picks to grab young, talented and more importantly, cheap, players due to their salary cap situation. Heading into next season, Portland will have no cap space. With the NBA’s projected luxury tax line at $122 million, the Blazers have already committed $132 million to their roster.
This won’t give them much room to operate this offseason, but here are five needs that the Portland Trail Blazers should address.
5. Address the frontcourt logjam
Heading into the 2017-18 season, the Blazers will carry three centers, Meyers Leonard, Festus Ezeli and Jusuf Nurkic on their roster. Leonard holds a salary cap number of nearly $10 million, while Ezeli’s is a bit lower at nearly $8 million. Nurkic is still on his rookie deal, so his salary isn’t as big of a deal.
Leonard, 25, just wrapped up the first season of a four-year contract, but was severely underwhelming for the Blazers. Although he played in 74 games, he only started in 12, while averaging 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. His shooting numbers were down and Leonard slowly slipped down the depth chart. Eventually, Noah Vonleh took his backup minutes behind Jusuf Nurkic.
Ezeli was a free-agent addition of the Blazers last offseason, but didn’t step foot on the court for Portland all season long. The ex-Warriors’ center hasn’t played since 2016, after having surgery on his left knee. He’s currently on a two-year deal worth $16 million, but with his injury concerns, his future production is unknown. The Blazers have a dilemma at their hands with Ezeli and his rehab process.
The best of the bunch is easily Jusuf Nurkic. Acquired in a midseason trade from the Denver Nuggets, Nurkic instantly became the starting center and defensive anchor, until he was sidelined with his injury. The Bosnian was averaging 15.2 points and 10.4 rebounds over the last 20 games with the Blazers. He’s still on his rookie contract, but I would believe that the Blazers sign him to an extension and keep their starting center into the future.
Due to the lack of salary cap space for the Blazers, they will likely try to dump either Leonard or Ezeli this offseason. It’s important that they address the logjam that they have at the center position before heading into next season — they’re paying too much money for too little productivity.