At present, the Blazers can be said to be facing a transformative phase, and interim general manager Joe Cronin has recently made a series of moves to damian Lillard.
After the trade deadline, interim general manager Joe Cronin said at a news conference that the Blazers' star was "likely" to be absent until the 2022-23 season, and in An interview in January, Damian Lillard officially admitted to suffering an abdominal tendon injury.
At the trade deadline, the Blazers sent away not only tough players like Robert Covington, Norman Powell and Larry Nance Jr., but even CJ McCollum. Then, after a series of moves before the trade deadline, this can also make it clear that the Blazers are not willing to be reimbursed for Lillard's season, and the Blazers still hope that the team can change.
After the Blazers' win over the Grizzlies, head coach Billups was asked in an interview about Damian Lillard's future return:
"I haven't thought about this yet, man," Billups replied with a smile, "I'm just happy for our guys, we've been promoting this all year, we've been doing it." ”
No one could expect the Trail Blazers to be a better team than they would be after the trade deadline, given that the talent they gave in trades against the Pelicans, Clippers and Jazz far exceeded the return on their chips. Because even if Josh Hart and Justis Winslow, two young players, have indeed not fully realized their talents in their respective careers, it is estimated that they will have a particularly large change in the Blazers.
It's just that the Blazers' series of moves also make one thing clear, that is, the role of the team to completely enter the reconstruction phase, and the next damian Lillard's whereabouts are largely the key to this Blazers.