The Portland Trail Blazers are not having a good season. The team from Oregon had high hopes in the last couple of seasons. Unfortunately, while they made the playoffs in the last eight seasons, that only resulted in passing the first round three times. This year, they also had high expectations coming into the year. Damian Lillard, the best player on the squad, vehemently rejected rumors of asking for a trade, instilling confidence into the fanbase. However, the season quickly turned sour for them, and now they are 12-18, with just one win in the last nine games. Here are two ways the Blazers can exit this slump.

Trade Jusuf Nurkic and/or C.J. McCollum 

This core of the Blazers, centered around the pairing of McCollum and Lillard, with Nurkic coming into his own as starting center, really has not fielded much relevant success for the team. As said above, they made the playoffs routinely, but that is not what the fans really want to see. A title challenge has been in the minds of many Blazers fans ever since their team at the turn of the century lost two conference finals in a row. With this team, and with this balance of power in the league, a title challenge is looking impossible.

Any possible trade for Nurkic and/or McCollum would be an instant boost for the Blazers, simply through the notion of new blood coming into the team. Of course, it is hard to put the blame solely on these two players for the poor results. Interestingly enough, Nurkic has upgraded his numbers from last season, and even more interestingly, he has been better in defeats rather than wins this year. Out of his top five scoring games this season, four came in losses, including a 31-point effort in a December loss to the Clippers.

Coming back to the notion of trading them, it would bring new players to the squad which really needs it. If the same core of players keeps hitting the same wall, in the Blazers case the first round of the playoffs, it is time for changes. The management believed the necessary change was in the coaching department, where rookie coach Chauncey Billups took over the reins from Terry Stotts. Unfortunately for the Blazers, that was not the case and the team is now looking like it will be out of the playoff picture.

It would be interesting to see what returns these two players yield. The Blazers can hardly hope for some kind of superstar, even though this package might be good enough for Ben Simmons or someone on the Pacers, like a Domantas Sabonis or a Caris LeVert. If they can get a healthy group of young guys, paired up with the leadership of Lillard and some good players already on the roster, the Blazers might benefit from trading the two. The new blood would give them a jump-start and with a strong second end of the season, they could be in the playoffs. Clearly, with this core, it is looking highly unlikely.

Related NewsArticle continues below
Ranking 5 best Darius Garland trade destinations if Cavs blow it up
Ranking 5 best Darius Garland trade destinations if Cavs blow it up
Derik Queen, Kasparas Jakucionis, Nolan Traore in the middle, Head coach Chauncey Billups, and GM Joe Cronin around them, Portland Trail Blazers wallpaper in the background
Portland Trail Blazers’ 3 best options for No. 11 pick in 2025 NBA Draft

Start disposing of easier teams and direct playoff rivals

In the remaining NBA schedule, according to Tankathon, the Blazers have the third easiest schedule from this day until the end of the year. During their last nine games, which included eight losses, they played the likes of the Suns, Warriors, Clippers, and the up-and-coming Grizzlies. These losses really should not hurt that much, as these teams are either fighting for the top of the standings and championship contention, or they are in a serious run of form, such as the Grizzlies.

The losses that should hurt are the ones against the Spurs, Celtics, Timberwolves, and earlier in the season, twice against the Timberwolves. Hypothetically, if they won all those games, they would be 17-13 and they would be above the Clippers in the fifth place. It is clear that the Blazers are having some issues playing against these teams and they need to sort this out if they want to enter the playoffs again and at least have a chance to surprise one of the favorites.

Looking at their next few games, it is really much of the same, as they have some rough opponents such as the Nets, Jazz, and Grizzlies again. However, if they want to look at the positives, the Blazers need to look a bit further, to the road trip they have in early January. Before the road trip, they have a game against the Kings, and on the trip, they play the likes of Celtics, Wizards, Magic, Raptors, then meet at home with the Timberwolves. These are all must-win games and if they manage to steal a few off of the favorites before, they will be right back in the conversation for the playoffs.

The Blazers really need patience right now. Their slump was also a thing of circumstance, as they played some serious oppositions. Due to the significant losses mentioned before, they will now need to surprise some of the biggest teams at the moment in the NBA if they want a fighting chance to be in the postseason. If they continue without snagging at least two or three wins in the next few games, the Blazers might be in line for a complete blow-up of the team.