Its official, the Portland Trail Blazers will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. The veterans on the team, the head coach, and the front office claim they are tired of losing and need to build a winning roster next season.

评论者表达了他们的渴望Blazers to obtain the #1 overall pick and draft Wemby. For that to happen, Portland would need an incredible amount of favor from the Basketball Gods to snag that ping pong ball in the drawing. I'm not against drafting him if that were the actual situation, the only concern I'd have is his health. No doubt Wembanyama is a unicorn, but we've also seen players like Zach Collins, Porzingis, Holmgren and Embiid suffer injuries early in their career. Basically, if we got Wemby with the 1st overall pick, I'd be anxiously knocking on wood during every game he played for the first couple seasons. Besides that, I see no issues with his incredible skill set translating to the NBA.

In the more likely scenario where Portland does not get the #1 overall pick and they opt instead to trade it, this offseason could provide some opportunities for the Front Office to make bigger moves than they have recently. It all depends on how the playoffs shake-out, the salary situation of other teams, and the potential break-down of other rosters.

Memphis Grizzlies:

The Grizz are going into their post-season a little bluer than the color of their jersey's without their strongman Center, Steven Adams. However the playoffs shake-out for them, they'll have to work out a contract for one of their starters: Dillon Brooks. In addition, Ja Morant's new contract will kick in during the 2023-2024 season, bringing his yearly pay to $33.5 million. With their team salary reaching $137 million next year ($4 million over the cap), they may plan to consolidate their roster and be willing to shed some of their smaller contracts such as: Xavier Tillman Sr. and Santi Aldama.

Philadelphia 76ers:

The city of Brotherly Love is once again headed for the playoffs, and like the Grizzlies, their salary cap situation next season is going to lead to some anxious moments. If Harden chooses to opt into his $35.6 million contract, it'll leave little flexibility for the front office to re-sign role players. So while this situation doesn't require a trade, I think it's worth noting a list of players who will be in the mix for the upcoming free agent market: Georges Niang; Shake Milton; Paul Reed; Jalen McDaniels.

Washington Wizards:

Speaking of another team that is treading water like the Blazers have been, the Wizards have once again landed outside the playoffs. For them, the offseason looms large with the decisions of what to do with Porzingis and Kuzma's contracts. Realistically, both these players could demand a hefty contract going forward, and well, the Wizards might just sign those checks. While dumping some UFA contracts could help with their cap space, they may also look to shed money by trading away some of their bench players. A few names of interest on their roster: Monte Morris, Delon Wright and Deni Avdija. I'll give Daniel Gafford an honorable mention, but that's not as likely to happen unless Portland is willing to give up more than I think most Blazers fans would be comfortable with for a back-up Center.

Miami Heat:

While Erik Spoelstra has done an incredible job developing undrafted players to fill out the team's roster, the clock has been ticking for the Heat and it may just strike midnight for them if they get bounced out of the playoffs in the first round. At 37 years old, and coming up on the last year of his contract Kyle Lowry is somewhat a shell of his former self. Don't get me wrong, Gabe Vincent is a solid player, he just hasn't shown the talent to be a starting point guard for a whole season yet. A young player from Florida like Simons, who possesses both PG & SG skills could make sense for Pat Riley, and a combination of both Anfernee and Nurkic roughly matches the contracts of Adebayo and Caleb Martin. While this trade is a bit of a long-shot, the pay-off would be incredible for Portland's defense. If this deal ever came about though, know that Riley is a shrew negotiator, and the cost in additional assets may be be difficult to stomach.

Brooklyn Nets:

Wings, wings, and more wings! The Nets have nearly turned themselves into the Clippers of the East with a plethora of forwards. Finding playing time for all of them and making it work is a big question mark though, and I don't see Brooklyn playing the long game with their current roster. Obviously Mikal Bridges is the big target here, but like Miami, the cost to acquire him may be too high. There's also the question as to whether he'll perform as well as he is now in a more complimentary role on the Blazers. That aside, the Nets also possess players who can serve as starters or valuable role players in the way of Dorian Finney-Smith, and Royce O'Neale. The jury is still out on whether they'll pursue a re-signing of free agent, Yuta Watanabe.

New Orleans Pelicans:

This is a last minute throw-in for me, but one of my favorite trade ideas. The Pels live and die by Zion Williams health, and we've all seen how that's played out over the last few seasons. They aren't quite the Wizards with John Wall at this point, but if they decide to hang on and cross their fingers, it may open up an opportunity for Portland and a redemption moment for Joe Cronin. Height and length been a problem for the Blazers lately? How about a 6'9 small forward?

Trey Murphy III - Basketball Reference Stats Link:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/murphtr02.html

The reasons I like this trade is because it doesn't ruffle a lot of feathers. Want to keep Anfernee? You can. Want to keep Nurk? You can. Want to keep Sharpe? You can. Want to trade Ant or Nurk after getting Murphy? You still can!

On a $3.35 million dollar contract, Trey's cap space hit is almost negligible and leaves room for the Blazers to pursue role players to fill out their bench. With his height, length and defensive ability, it doesn't get much more '3&D' than Trey Murphy. What the Pelicans will ask for him is another matter though. I'd assume a 1st round pick, but there's no telling how high they'll aim. Cronin had the opportunity to snag Murphy during the CJ trade, but opted instead for a 1st round pick with questionable protections on it that ended up not being received by the Blazers. Trading Murphy doesn't necessarily gut the Pels either, as they would still have Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, Naji Marshall, and Larry Nance Jr filling out the forward positions.

It's a shot in the dark, but if the Portland Front Office could work out a reasonable trade for Murphy, I'd be over the moon! Even if Dame never won a championship with Portland, we'd still have a future pairing of Sharpe and Murphy, or a trio of Ant, Sharpe and Murphy; and that is pretty dang good.