After Damian Lillard's season reimbursement, the Blazers' situation is bound to be very different, but for Lillard, the current Blazers simply can't provide him with a good enough chance to compete for the title in the future.
Recently, there have been rumors that the Blazers are interested in the team that Jerami Grant, but will Grant be the player who will make the Blazers change? At least the US media Jack Winter is not optimistic about the Blazers pushing for a deal involving Jerami Grant, and even said that the trade with Grant may make Lillard more likely to choose to leave:
Jack Winter believes that the 28-year-old Grant has reached his talent limit, he has not been selected for the All-Star Team, even if he has a similar experience to McCollum, but this does not mean that he will become Lillard's ideal partner. What's more, for the Trail Blazers to push for a deal involving Grant means they need to sacrifice some future assets.
So compared to the deal that may not make the Blazers a better competitive team, promoting Lillard's trade and going into the rebuilding phase completely may be a better choice for both Lillard and the Blazers.
Not only that, but the Blazers also need to consider the future of tough players such as Anfinny Simmons and Nurkic in this offseason, and these two players have been reimbursed for injury seasons. Among them, Anfinny Simmons will become a restricted free agent, Nurkic will also become a free agent in this offseason, and if the Blazers want to fully enter the reconstruction phase, renewing Simmons and letting Nurkic go may be the best choice.
But if the Blazers still want to build a championship lineup around Lillard, then renewing the two at the same time should be a must. Overall, this offseason is a very important turning point for the Trail Blazers.