The Portland Trail Blazers started the 2022-23 season on the right foot, proving the doubters wrong and looking far ahead of schedule in the Chauncey Billups era.
But that solid start to the campaign didn’t last long, and they’ve alternated big wins with poor efforts way too often this season.
That was again evident during Sunday night’s embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, as they were up by as many as 25 points and wound up losing by seven.
The Blazers’ lack of accountability has been an issue for way too long, as even Damian Lillard has talked about how the players need to dig deep and do some soul-searching to turn their season around.
However, NBA insider Bill Oram believes their issues run deeper, and things may not change until there’s a bit of an overhaul.
The Blazers have been consistently disappointing for too long this season. Swoons happen. Long season. But feels like some kind of mix-up is needed.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) January 23, 2023
Whether he means changing coaches or breaking up this core of players, it seems like he couldn’t go wrong with either choice.
Lillard has repeatedly stated his desire to play with the Blazers for the remainder of his career, but the new front office might not feel the same way.
He’s making way too much money, and the team is a ways away from championship contention, so maybe, they feel like they’d be better off trading him to gather as much draft capital as they can and build around budding star Anfernee Simons.
Jerami Grant, Jusuf Nurkic, and Gary Payton II should also gauge plenty of interest in the trade market, so let’s keep an eye on the Blazers as we approach the trade deadline.
NEXT: Damian Lillard Is Once Again Leading His Team