On February 22, Beijing time, the NBA is still in the All-Star Weekend, and the Blazers have made up their minds to make changes, first trading Powell and Covington, and then sending McCollum and Nance Jr. away, and the team lineup has also changed. Today, the Blazers officially operated continuously, cutting 1 person and signing 3 people in a row.
The Trail Blazers officially announced that the team would cut Dennis Smith, who would become a free agent.
Smith played in 37 games for the Blazers, averaging 5.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game, playing well, but unfortunately there is still some distance from the Blazers' expectations. In fact, in January this year, the Blazers only converted his contract to full protection, but after more than a month, he faced unemployment again, depending on whether any team was willing to provide him with a contract.
Smith was the No. 9 pick in 17 years, playing for the Lone Ranger, and also had a 15.2 points and 5.2 assists in his first season, but after the Lone Ranger selected Doncic, he lost his status. After playing for the Knicks, Pistons and Trail Blazers, the state is not as good as before, and it is a bit difficult to get back to the form.
After cutting Smith, the Blazers immediately converted rookie Watford's contract into a formal contract, which was previously signed as a two-way contract. Watford has played in 33 games for the Trail Blazers this season, averaging 4.5 points, 3.2 rebounds per game, shooting 59 percent from the field, and signing a four-year, $5.8 million contract.
In addition, the Blazers signed development league guard Brandon Williams on a vacant two-way contract, followed by a 10-day short contract to sign Drew Eubanks, who was previously traded by the Spurs to the Raptors and then cut.
The Blazers seem to want to rebuild, but they don't plan to trade the core Lillard, but they just want to rebuild the lineup, still with Lillard as the core. It's just that Lillard is not sure whether he wants to stay or not, he is still recuperating from injury, and once the team cannot continue to make breakthroughs in the offseason, the probability of Lillard choosing to leave in the offseason is still very large. With McCollum gone, Lillard didn't have enough helpers around him, and Simmons was too young.
In the case of many stars changing teams, whether Lillard can insist on one person and one city depends on how well the Blazers' work in reinforcements is completed.