No one expected that the Knicks, the most active team in the player market before the trade deadline and claimed to be tradable by the whole team, were not the Philadelphia 76ers who were overwhelmed by Simmons, not the Los Angeles Lakers who frequently appeared in various trade rumors, but the Portland Trail Blazers who had played in the playoffs for many consecutive seasons.
In just a few days, the Blazers sent away Covington, Powell, McCollum, Nance Jr., and Snell, three of whom were the team's starters and the other two were the team's main rotations; what is even more incredible is that such a crazy deal only means the team's salary space and a few limited value draft picks. It's no wonder that fans on social media fry the pan and think that the Blazers management has a bad brain, which is simply a clearance sale.
Interestingly, this is not Lillard's first experience. In the summer of 2015, Lillard, who was dreaming of the future of the team, found that the team had sent away four starters – Aldridge, Batum, López and Matthews overnight. Going around, Lillard is now alone again.
Plagued by injuries, the Blazers have underperformed this season and are currently only 21-34, ranking 11th in the West, and while not satisfactory, the suspense of the playoffs remains under the playoff format; however, after these two deals, the team apparently voluntarily gave up the season.
Interestingly, in both deals, the Blazers almost gave up the team's few forward players, and on the other side had to cut the inside Cody Zeller, then the team will sit on 10 defenders such as Brevins, McLemore, Smith Jr., Simmons, Walker, Winslow, Satoransky, Hart, Bledsoe, Lillard, etc.
What's even funnier is that for their own operation, the Blazers management did not intend to rebuild. According to The Famous Woj, the Blazers' next phase of the plan is to rebuild the championship lineup around Lillard, and they will use the salary space in their hands to pursue big-name players in the offseason.
But the real problem is that tearing city has never been favored by big players, a few seasons ago, Lillard and McCollum in the player market frequently winked, the last to recruit only the declining anthony, last summer Lillard threw an olive branch to Oubre, who had never been selected as an All-Star, but was ruthlessly rejected by the other side, who would rather join charlotte Hornets, who was also small in the city...
In addition to the unattractiveness of the market, another issue for the Blazers is Lillard's age and form, who will turn 32 next season and has seen a sharp decline in his 40.2 percent shooting percentage and 34.2 percent three-point shooting this season, which may be blamed on injuries, but who can guarantee that he can withstand the signs of time?
Continue to build a championship-winning lineup around Lillard? Personally, this is more like the pie painted by the Blazers management for Lillard, just like Lillard's dream of "one person, one city" for the Blazers fans.
After all, the pie on the paper cannot be filled with hunger, and the beautiful dreams drawn cannot resist reality. For the Blazers and Lillard, at this moment, the best ending for both sides is to break up.