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The Portland Trail Blazers have made playoff appearances consistently for quite a while now. Yet, they always manage to lose in the Western Conference Finals or even before that. It appears that the team is a few key factors away from being a complete championship team.
Despite having a pretty active offseason, the Blazers are still not quite where they want to be. Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard feels like he has an idea of what could be missing for the team… and it’s Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green.
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Damian Lillard Wants to Team Up With Draymond Green
Reports have surfaced that Lillard has been insisting to the Blazers front office that a trade for Warriors’ Draymond Green would be beneficial to their roster.
Per Sam Amick on The Athletic Show Podcast:
“If we were handicapping Draymond trade destinations if the Warriors decided to blow it up…that’s the one. Damian and his group have for the last couple years been campaigning for that,” he said.
Although Green is not known for putting up huge numbers, he is an all-around player that will make plays that will aid the team as a whole. The Blazers do have effective players like Lillard and C.J. McCollum who lead the team offensively, but no one else really steps up quite to their caliber. Green has always been a great compliment to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, so he could potentially have that same effect for the Blazers.
Carmelo Anthony was supposed to be the Blazers’ star forward this season but newbie Robert Covington has been filling in for that position this season. Although Convington has been doing a pretty decent job, Green is a very impactful defensive player and his defensive IQ is admirable. That is probably why he was named the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year. Green would likely elevate the position while complimenting the rest of the team.
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A Great Addition To the Blazers
The Trail Blazers are off to a slow start this season with a 3-4 record and a fresh loss to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Their offense has consistently been ranked in the top ten since Lillard has been a part of the roster. Their defense however is missing something. The team wouldn’t have much of a playoff run if they couldn’t stop anyone. In order to complement their great offense, the defense could use some adjustments. This is where Green comes in.
The Blazers and the Warriors have competed against each other in the Playoffs multiple times in recent years. Most recently, the Warriors swept Lillard and the Blazers in the 2019 Western Conference Finals before losing to the Toronto Raptors in the Finals.
The Trail Blazers just played the Warriors in back-to-back games over this past weekend. The Blazers won the first matchup 123-98 while the Warriors won in the second matchup, 137-122. In this second matchup Warriors’ Curry managed to drop a career-high 62 points.
With their history, Lillard has gotten acquainted with the playing style of the Warriors, which is why he potentially wants to pair up with Green.
The addition of Draymond Green to the roster at the beginning of the season could have the potential of boosting the Blazers just enough in order to be playoff contenders once again. Of course, there is a huge difference between wanting a trade and making it. Golden State, however, doesn’t seem to be letting go of Green anytime soon.
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