Sixers: Ranking each NBA team’s top duo in 2022 offseason
14. Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant
It was clear last season that the Portland Trail Blazers had to retool around superstar point guard Damian Lillard. They traded away C.J. McCollum, Robert Covington, and Norman Powell to get draft picks and younger talent.
As a result, the Blazers have a new core of Lillard, Anfernee Simons, and the newly acquired Jerami Grant. The question is will this core be good enough to win a title for the aging All-Star? The answer is probably not, but they still do have a pretty good dynamic duo.
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Grant was originally a member of the Sixers’ rebuild known as “The Process”. He’s slowly transformed himself into a solid role player and then a legit two-way player who’s a borderline All-Star. He should help the Blazers with their defensive issues.
For the first time in his career, Lillard dealt with injury and he didn’t look like the All-Star level player he’s been up to that point. Hopefully this offseason he’s had the time to properly heal and he can still recover his star-level form. If not then the Blazers have to consider a full rebuild.