It's no secret that the Portland Trail Blazers are eager to rebuild. Before the trading deadline, they finally pulled the trigger on the trade.
The portland Trail Blazers, who have a poor record, finally made a change before the trade deadline, sending Powell and Covington away after packing up and sending away C.J. McCollum, who has been with the team for 9 years, today. In an instant, the Blazers' lineup changed dramatically, and in addition to the core Lillard, only center Nurkic was still in the team. The specific transactions are as follows:
Blazers Pelicans: C.J. McCollum (guard), Larry Nance Jr. (forward), Tony Snell (forward)
Pelicans Trail Blazers: Josh Hart (defender), Tomash Satoransky (defender), Nikir-Alexander Walker (defender), Marcos Lozada Silva (defender), 1 2022 protected first-round pick, 1 2026 second-round pick, 1 2027 second-round pick
Such a short period of time to dismantle the team is not unfamiliar to Lillard. In the summer of 2015, when the Blazers were eliminated 4-1 by the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, they lost all four starters except Lillard in one summer, and Aldridge, Matthews, Batum and Robin Lopez all found new owners that summer. So such a classic picture was circulated on the Internet to express regret for Lillard.
Now, as Lillard almost once again experiences his teammates all gone in an instant, images called "Then I'll Die 2.0" have also begun to circulate in the comment sections of major forums.
What Lillard thinks about the Blazers' recent trades is unknown, but it's clear that Lillard fans, including some neutral fans, are once again sorry for Lillard, believing that Lillard is too aggrieved.
Grievances, where are the grievances?
If you can think clearly about the following questions, then you will not feel that Lillard has any grievances, and even feel that he is taking the blame. First of all, why did the Blazers break up the team at this time? The answer is that the team is getting farther and farther away from the championship. After Lillard officially became the first core of the team in 2015, they were able to reach the playoffs every season, but only 3 of them reached the Western Conference semifinals or more, and in the past 5 seasons, they have been out of the first round in 4 seasons, although the Blazers' checks have not been issued during this period, but no matter how they change teams, the team can not go further. With Lillard injured and in a slump this season, the Blazers can't even guarantee a playoff spot now, and the Blazers once again decided to tear it down.
Then we have the question: Why can't the Blazers ever compete for the title, or even make it to the playoffs? Admittedly, McCollum, Nurkic, Covington, Powell, Trent and others are not the top stars, but they are undoubtedly good enough puzzle players, even all-star players like McCollum. But as the team's boss for many years, Lillard does not really have the absolute ability to lead the team to the championship, and his offensive efficiency will decline a lot in the playoffs. Over the years, his best series rival was Westbrook, who even Mitchell couldn't beat. In most series, Lillard was just a defender who wasn't offensively efficient and defended badly. Players like this who are strong in attack and defense, and whose efficiency has declined seriously, it is difficult to find examples of leading the team to win the championship throughout the history of the NBA.
So, the third question comes, which is also the most important question to solve the problem of "whether Lillard is wronged". That is, it does not matter that the team cannot win the championship, in the long history of the NBA, there are more players who cannot lead the team to win the championship in the parent team, such as James, Durant can not lead the mother team to win the championship, but Durant, James, including George and Anthony Davis in recent years, they will choose to apply to leave the team after realizing that the parent team cannot win the championship, although many times it will be considered spineless and impatient, but on the other hand, this has ushered in a new turn for the mother team. At least they can move in new directions. However, Lillard's approach is selfish enough, and in the case of almost an ending in each season, Lillard did not apply to leave the team like James and others, but repeatedly emphasized his one-man and one-city, even in a recent interview, he still said that he wanted to keep the Blazers.
If the boss refuses to give up loyalty and the team is in urgent need of change, isn't that all you have to do is trade your teammates? So what is your grievance? If you're enough for your grandfathers to apply to leave the team, so that the Blazers can exchange valuable first-round picks in the future, everyone may not struggle as much as they are now. But Lillard, for the sake of his own tall man, can only let the Blazers undergo major surgery again.
Judging from the current situation, the Blazers will continue to rebuild around Lillard, but if they still believe that Lillard can win the championship with Lillard as the core, and Lillard continues to insist on one person and one city, then maybe in a few years, "Then I will die well 3.0" will be born.
Grievances? You are the root cause of the grievance. Finally, it is worth mentioning that in the mcCollum deal, ESPN's famous data analyst gave the Blazers a rating of A for the deal, while the Pelicans only had C-.
Not broken, not standing! The Trailblazers bid farewell to the two-gun era and ushered in a new future
As of February 9, Beijing time, the Portland Trail Blazers are still the longest-running team in the playoffs. Since the 2013-2014 season, they have tasted the playoffs for eight consecutive years, but with the team's performance decline this season, and the successive removal of major players such as Powell, Covington and McCollum before the trade deadline, the Blazers have had a very difficult time entering the playoffs this season. After today's defeat to the Magic, the Blazers suffered 6 consecutive losses, their record came to 21 wins and 34 losses, 11th place in the West, 1.5 wins away from the 10th Pelicans, from the transaction point of view, the Blazers' task in the second half of the season will be to train new people, while striving to get a better signing in the draft.
From the start of the 15-16 season to the 21-22 season, it was the time when Lillard and McCollum led the team with two guns. In these 6 seasons, the Blazers still played in the playoffs, but 4 times fell in the first round, including 4 times in the past 5 years, and in the only 2 breakthroughs in the first round, the Blazers relied on the two core griffins and Paul of the opponents in the 15-16 season, and only in the 18-19 season, the Blazers reached the Western Conference Finals, giving fans a glimmer of hope, but the Western Conference Finals faced the Warriors who lacked major generals, and the Blazers still exposed a big gap.
Throughout the past 6 years, the Blazers' problem is undoubtedly very obvious, that is, the lineup with two guns as the core is not reasonable, especially on the defensive end, they are easy to be targeted by opponents, and the offensive end is biased to rely on the projection shooting rate of the outside line, so under the high-intensity defense of the playoffs, the double gun is easy to dud, which in turn affects the performance of the whole team.
From this point of view, although the departure of many Blazers, especially McCollum, is sad, after all, the Blazers' backcourt double gun is also a generation's youth memory. But countless examples have shown that the Trail Blazers' two-gun model doesn't work, and their caps are clearly visible. Therefore, just as the so-called unbroken, trading McCollum, which has an annual salary of more than 30 million in the next few years, is undoubtedly a more correct choice to get a defensive player like Hart and Lillard.
That's why, KEVIN Pelton, a well-known data analyst at ESPN, rated the Blazers on the deal A, and since the Blazers of the past few years have been unable to compete for the championship, they need to change their way of life.
For the current trailblazers, their future is full of unknowns, but at least they will embark on, and have the ability to, embark on a new path. After several consecutive trades, the Blazers managed to free up salary space for this year's offseason, which they could fully use to reinforce, while the Blazers will also have more opportunities in the draft than in the past, selecting more talented players to partner with Lillard.
Compared to some other rebuilding teams, the Blazers' biggest advantage lies in their experience, and the performance of the past 8 years and 6 years proves that the team with Lillard as the core cannot go the two-gun model. In the history of the NBA, a player like Lillard who is strong and weak, you need to form players who can share the ball and can defend around him, such as many tough guys around Iverson in 2001, and finally escort the 76ers to the Finals, and then the Warriors, Curry is surrounded by Iguodala, Thompson, Green and other level defensive players. If the Blazers want to win the championship around Lillard and make a breakthrough, they must also do this, Hart is the player who meets this requirement, but one Hart is far from enough, they need to further improve the team's forward reserves.
Portland's two-gun era is over, which is regrettable, but not sad enough, because the Blazers are finally freed from the shackles of brotherhood, and their future is more promising.
Wen | Li Hui
Edit the | DBSQ Li Yifan (Intern)