OKC Thunder: One free agent target from every Western Conference team
Portland Trail Blazers
2021 Free Agents:
- Carmelo Anthony
- Keljin Blevins
- Zach Collins
- Harry Giles
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
- Enes Kanter
- T.J. Leaf
- Norman Powell
2021 Draft Picks:
- Forward, Greg Brown (43rd)
The situation in Portland is about as tenuous as it’s ever been during the Damian Lillard era. Adding to the prospect of Dame keeping a close eye on what moves the franchise makes is what will happen with Norman Powell.
He’s expected to opt-out of the final year of his contract following a career season albeit with better overall production with the Raptors – but it takes time to ease into a different system.
If Powell elects to leave, however, that will put Neil Olshey under an even brighter spotlight given Gary Trent Jr. was the cost. A player who is five-plus years younger and witnessed a slight uptick in his production despite the Raptors dealing with injuries (and franking tanking at that point).
Part of me would love to see Presti go after Powell — but he’s 28 and as great of an impact as he’d have on the locker room it’s too early to add a player of Powell’s ilk given the timeline.
Therefore I opted for a full-on high-risk, high-reward player in Zach Collins. Long cited as a big man with amazing potential he’s been ravaged by the curse of the Blazers – – INJURIES.
Portland opted to not extend Collins his $7 million qualifying offer and with all the injuries he’ll likely be a player that can be got on a highly economical deal. Maybe a better medical team in a new destination would give him the fresh start he needs. It’s not like he’ll cost much and if he lives up to those prior expectations – then it’s a huge win