Mannix: Alright, Beck, while you are enjoying the Bay Area—and a Warriors Game 1 blowout—I’m in Chicago, where most of the league has gathered for the annual draft combine. I was in the lottery drawing room this week and spent a couple of days bopping around the combine and I can report—hope springs eternal! The draft is great, all the non-playoff teams expect to be playoff (or play-in) teams next season. You know, the usual. But it got me thinking: Which team needs a big offseason? I’m talking about next month’s draft, free agency, all of it. Who’s at the top of your list?
Beck: We usually focus on the sad sacks at the very top of the draft order. But no team needs a big offseason as badly as the Trail Blazers. Damian Lillard’s future and his legacy are hanging in the balance, as is the trajectory of the franchise. The lottery didn’t help. They’re drafting seventh, which means they probably won’t get a player talented enough to change their fortunes, and the pick might not be valuable enough to get the Blazers the veteran help they need via trade.
Mannix: Let’s talk about the Blazers for a minute. Because I’m very curious to see how Joe Cronin operates in his first offseason as top exec. Will he extend Damian Lillard? Lillard can tack two years and $106 million onto his current deal this summer. Lillard is that franchise; he’s the greatest Blazer of all-time. But he’ll also be 32 this summer and has shown signs of wear and tear the last couple of years. Do you do it? Do you double down on him, hope Anfernee Simons takes another leap next season and use some of that cap space to lure someone who fits alongside them?
