PORTLAND, Ore. — Ben Simmons and James Harden swapped cities at the NBA trade deadline on Thursday with Simmons getting his wish for a fresh start outside of Philly and Harden getting his wish of reuniting with Daryl Morey. It's a blockbuster move and potentially a win for both franchises. But it's probably bad news for the Portland Trail Blazers. This episode unpacks why that trade had an impact all the way across the country for a tanking team in Portland and takes a look at the other major moves at the deadline.
The Blazers didn't do anything else on deadline day after a week of roster reconstruction. There were no takers for Eric Bledsoe and Portland's pursuit of Jerami Grant never came to fruition. After the dust settled on a busy week of transactions where do the Blazers stand? (starts at 14:59)
RELATED: Full transcript: Trail Blazers interim GM Joe Cronin discusses trade deadline, direction of team
Now that the easy part is over, where exactly are the Blazers headed? The plan seems pretty obvious but the path remains relatively treacherous. Can Portland really complete a turnaround in six months, going from intentionally bad to convincingly good? Tearing the roster apart was step 1. The remaining steps are where things actually get challenging. How about a moment to ruminate on the "how" of Portland's roster-building adventure with thoughts from interim general manager Joe Cronin. (starts at 26:36)
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About Locked On Blazers
Mike Richman has covered the Portland Trail Blazers in various capacities since 2014 as a beat writer for The Oregonian, a reporter at NBC Sports Northwest and now in the form of the only daily Trail Blazers podcast, Locked On Blazers. The Pass First Point Guard will get you closer to the team with reports from inside the Moda Center and by unpacking the statistics to know and about your favorite team. You will also find regular guests and can get your questions answered with weekly mailbag shows.
If you would like to participate in the weekly mailbag show, submit your questions to @mikegrich on Twitter or email lockedonblazerspod@gmail.com.
Locked On Blazers is the best way to stay up to date on the latest happenings in the Portland basketball world. It’s available wherever you get podcasts and on YouTube with new shows every weekday.
