The Portland Trail Blazers don't want to trade point guard Damian Lillard or shooting guard C.J. McCollum and instead want to find a third scorer to pair alongside them, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN.
The Blazers aren't expected to acquire the likes of Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler, but could get a second-tier scorer, per Lowe.
But Portland cannot take a talent on McCollum's level for granted. There is no guarantee they will acquire anyone that good over the next decade. They want to supplement the Lillard/McCollum duo with a third impact player, per sources around the league.
They will not get Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, or Jimmy Butler. But how different would they look if they traded for a wing on the level of Tobias Harris or Khris Middleton? They could dangle their first-round pick to chase someone like Taurean Prince, hoping he develops into a real 3-and-D starter with more off-the-bounce juice than Harkless or Aminu. Perhaps they could wrest Otto Porter Jr. from Washington. Throw a player like that alongside Lillard, McCollum and Collins, and Portland's future looks interesting. If Golden State breaks up, why couldn't the Blazers dream big?
The Blazers were swept in the first-round of the 2018 playoffs by the New Orleans Pelicans. Many around the league thought the front office in Portland would shake up the roster as a result. That didn't happen, as the Blazers still have the same core of Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, Jusuf Nurkić and Evan Turner.
Portland enters Wednesday with the best record in the Western Conference at 12-5, but we have seen this story before. Until the Blazers do something in the playoffs, we can't overrate them based off of regular season success.
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