Portland’s lack of identity as a basketball team has been in full display this season. Chauncey Billups, the new head coach, has already been in the media publicly criticizing the starters. His appointment as the head coach came with hopes of improving their defense but as things stand currently, the Blazers have one of the worst defenses in the league. They are 30th in defensive rating (113.5) and 26th in Opp PTS/G (111.3). The Blazers have a roster problem and not a coaching problem. Their best perimeter defender, Robert Covington, struggles to keep up laterally with quick guards and Jusuf Nurkic cannot keep up with bigger and stronger centers in the NBA.

I believe there are 2 directions the Blazers can go to improve their team. One route is trading for another star like Ben Simmons for CJ McCollum and few 1st round picks. The development of Anfernee Simons as a shot creator and a playmaker makes CJ more disposable and acquiring Ben Simmons would significantly improve their defense while also providing line up flexibility. Another route the Blazers could take is trading Damian Lillard for young assets and picks kicking off the rebuild. The way things are going, if you take out Dame from the Blazers, they will end up getting a top pick and with the 2022 draft class being top-heavy they could land Paolo Banchero or Chet Holmgren.

Damian Lillard deserves better than his current situation whether that is getting traded to a contender or trading CJ for a superstar. Any team with a player of Damian Lillard’s caliber must be contender every year and the fact that things have reached an all-time low speaks volumes of the disservice the Portland Trail Blazers have done as an organization to Damian Lillard.