The Portland Trail Blazers have the makings of a young promising team with players like Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Shaedon Sharpe forming an exciting core around Damian Lillard. However, they don’t look like championship-material just yet, making this offseason crucial for Portland to bridge that gap and align themselves to Lillard’s vision.
As free agency draws near, the Blazers can look ahead and figure out which players they should pursue to improve the team and satisfy their franchise player. Alongside the obvious choice of Jerami Grant, there are signs pointing towards Golden State Warriors defensive specialist Draymond Green as a potential option.
Draymond is set to become an unrestricted free agent after opting out of his contract with the Warriors. Although it is likely that he will return to the Warriors, The Athletic’s Sam Amick suggests that the Blazers should pursue Draymond, given Lillard’s dream of playing alongside the four-time NBA champion.
Per The Athletic:
“So, what would it take to convince Lillard that Portland is still the place to be for the rest of his NBA days? Here’s one solution that is known to be a dream scenario from Lillard’s vantage point: Re-sign forward Jerami Grant and add four-time All-Star/four-time champion Draymond Green in free agency.
While the Blazers have [Jerami] Grant’s Bird rights and can thus re-sign him despite being over the salary cap, they currently have no room to sign someone of Green’s ilk. Especially considering he’s likely looking for a deal in the mid-$20 million range annually. There are sign-and-trade pathways to be explored, and likely with a third team needing to be involved, but it’s an implausible prospect to say the least.
And again, all signs point to Green wanting to stay put [with Golden State].”
