In order to bounce back from a mediocre year, Portland needs to sign good players. Except that the last revelation about them is a cold shower for the fans… just like for Damian Lillard besides, who was very hot on the file in question.
Only 12th in the West this season after regularly reaching the playoffs in the past, the Blazers have not abandoned their ambitions. With the coach-leader duo made up of Chauncey Billups and Damian Lillard, the idea is to quickly return to the Top 8 of the conference. For that, however, we will have to improve the roster, which was a bit down after CJ McCollum’s trade at the deadline last February.
A time interested in Zach LaVine, the leaders of Rip City will however have to drop according to the latest information. Another high-caliber player who has been attracting them for a while is pivot Deandre Ayton, who is leaving the Suns. Lillard himself was pushing for him to be recruited, but again, the franchise player may not appreciate the news reported by Jake Fischer. According to the journalist of Bleacher Reportthe former draft n°1 will not be prosecuted further:
The abandoned Deandre Ayton track through Portland
Portland doesn’t appear to be a legitimate base for restricted free agent Deandre Ayton, sources say. The Trail Blazers are expected to retain center Jusuf Nurkic and prioritize Toronto Raptors swingman OG Anunoby in the event of a match for the 7th draft pick. But there is growing talk of Portland possibly offering Oklahoma City the seventh pick for No. 12 and a package that could include Lu Dort.
Author of 15 points, 11 rebounds and almost 3 assists on average in 2021-22, the Bosnian is also known to be a very good friend of Dame DOLLA The problem is that he is extremely fragile, not having reached the bar of 60 games in a season since 2019… On top of that, Ayton is certainly an added value compared to him, in theory. It is therefore not in this way that Portland will strengthen, a very worrying sign for the rest of the summer.
But then what about the big man from Arizona, whose year-end resulted in a huge on-site drama ? Indeed, although he does not seem destined to play in Oregon, he is still on the way out. Still according to Fischer, four franchises are currently still in the running on his file, exclusively teams playing in the East. One scenario would even see it being traded for another big pivot in the market:
The most realistic landing spots for Ayton outside of Phoenix appear to be Atlanta, Detroit and Toronto, all of which would present intriguing sign-and-trade opportunities for the Suns. League staff have also spoken in recent days about Ayton’s possible trade to Indiana for Myles Turner. Turner and Ayton share the same representation.
Rather than pursue Deandre Ayton, the Blazers will obviously favor the status quo by trying to extend Jusuf Nurkic instead. He may be close to Damian Lillard, not sure that the leader is reassured by this development.
