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The Portland Trail Blazers are going to have some interesting decisions to make at the NBA trade deadline because they aren't necessarily a team that can compete for an NBA title at the moment but they are only a few moves away.
What's particularly interesting about Portland is that they can decide to go in multiple different ways. They can either head towards a rebuild mode or they can head towards a retool mode, which would be the better option for them.
In order for Portland to become NBA title contenders, they're going to have to avoid some serious mistakes that they could make if they do decide to rebuild the organization. Let's take a look at three areas the Blazers must avoid in order to get them to be a championship-caliber team.
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Blazers Must Avoids 2022
3. Have to trade CJ McCollum
CJ McCollum isn't a bad player by any means but he clearly hasn't been that guy to get the job done next to Damian Lillard.
There are plenty of other options out there that they can go out and get and that's certainly something that Portland is going to have to think about. If they can put Lillard next to the right player, they will find a lot of success and even be a team that can win an NBA title.
It is time to decide to move on from McCollum if you are the Portland Trail Blazers and go out and get somebody who can come in and be paired next to Lillard. They also have to factor in that they do have many players on their roster who they are thinking about trading but should possibly decide to keep because they do have some guys who can fill a nice role for the two stars. Guys like Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic, and a few others should still be in Portland after the trade deadline because they do need to keep some of these guys if they are going to go out and get that second star.
One thing Portland should not do is trade McCollum for Ben Simmons because Simmons is not even a better player than CJ. If he comes into Portland, they're going to find the same lack of success that they have found in the playoffs for the past few seasons.
2. Can't trade Damian Lillard
There have been some rumors about this but as Lillard has made it clear, he does not want to leave Portland anytime soon. He enjoys having that challenge of trying to win a championship for this organization.
Portland got exactly what they want and they have to look at this like a Giannis Antetokounmpo situation in Milwaukee. Lillard is one of the best players in all of basketball and he is certainly good enough to be the number one option on a championship team. What Portland has failed to do is necessarily put that second star next to Dame and that has caused them to not perform to what they were expecting to and hoping for it in the playoffs.
What Portland cannot do is think about going into a rebuild and getting rid of this guy. When looking at their roster, they have many guys who can bring back a valuable return and that means that they need to retool and build around Lillard, They should also be having Simons be a key part of their team because as we have seen with this kids extended minutes, he can play basketball at a high level.
The biggest mistake that Portland needs to avoid is getting rid of Damian Lillard because he clearly is one of the best players in all of basketball and he is going to help Portland eventually win that long-awaited championship that they are hoping to win.
1. Don't be afraid to make a huge move at the deadline
If the Blazers are going to want to have any success in the 2022 calendar year, they need to make a huge splash at the trade deadline. They have many options that they could decide to move on with but they need to realize that they could be in a win-now situation if they just make some of those correct moves. Instead of going into a rebuild mode, they need to go into a retool mode.
This is going to be a huge trade deadline for the Blazers and if they do make the wrong decision, they could be heading in a bad direction. They need to seriously think about just retooling their entire team because they certainly have enough talent and the first star in Damian Lillard to win an NBA championship.
