The Portland Trail Blazers have a huge offseason ahead of them. After two years of trying their best to contend for a playoff spot, only to give up on the season by its tail-end, they no longer have any intentions of wasting away one more elite year of Damian Lillard's career. Lillard, despite being 32 years old, had arguably the best season of his career in 2022-23, averaging 32.2 points per game on incredible efficiency. Thus, the Blazers may only need to acquire someone who could function as Lillard's co-star.
At this point, however, it's not quite clear yet which direction the Blazers are going to take. After jumping in the lottery and nabbing the third overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, the Blazers have a golden opportunity to either take one of the best prospects in the draft class in Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller, or perhaps package the pick for a second All-Star talent.
If the Blazers choose the latter route, they might look to trade for one of these three players. According to Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, Jaylen Brown, Pascal Siakam, and Mikal Bridges are trade targets to look out for as the Blazers attempt to bolster the roster.
In addition to dangling the third overall pick, the Blazers are also reportedly open to the idea of dealing away Anfernee Simons. It's not hard to see why the Blazers are interested in doing so. Simons, as much of a flamethrower as he is on offense, is a less-than-stellar fit alongside Damian Lillard in the backcourt given their lack of size.
However, given the inflation in the trade market brought forth by the Rudy Gobert trade, it's not a certainty that Simons plus the third pick gets trades for the aforementioned three done.
The Blazers should also be weighing whether it's worth it to let go of the chance to draft either Scoot Henderson or Brandon Miller for those three players. Jaylen Brown had struggles dribbling with his off-hand in the 2023 NBA playoffs, Pascal Siakam's contract is expiring (as well as Brown's), while Mikal Bridges doesn't exactly have a long track record of star-level production.
Whatever the case may be, the Blazers are certainly a team to keep an eye out for during draft night.
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