PORTLAND — For the first time in five years, the Portland Trail Blazers were back in the playoffs. The ending wasn’t pretty though. A gentleman’s sweep at the hands of San Antonio reminded everyone just how far Portland still are from true contention, but the experience matters nonetheless. Young teams don’t usually skip steps on the road to relevance, even if fans desperately want the microwave version of contention. “Trail Blazers must go green” is more than just a catchy offseason slogan. It might genuinely be Portland’s clearest pathway toward elevating this young team amid a looming Giannis Antetokounmpo pursuit.
Portland Trail Blazers Must Go Green Boldly In Their Giannis Antetokounmpo Pursuit
There’s also the reality that playoff embarrassment can be productive. The Spurs series exposed Portland’s weaknesses with almost uncomfortable honesty. They couldn’t consistently generate efficient half-court offense. Their spacing tightened whenever games slowed down and too often defenders simply ignored shooters to crowd the paint.
That tends to happen when you’re one of the league’s worst three-point shooting teams. Still, there are positives to build on. Scoot Henderson looked more composed under playoff pressure, Shaedon Sharpe flashed genuine growth during the season despite injury setbacks, and Donovan Clingan had moments where he looked like the long-term solution at center but struggled massively in the playoffs. The foundation exists even if the walls still wobble a little when the pressure rises.
Amid Tom Dundon’s “el cheapo” drama, this is still a franchise entering a dangerous phase of ambition. Tiago Splitter, who guided Portland to a 42-39 record and their first postseason berth in half a decade, is reportedly unlikely to receive the full-time coaching job. Splitter was elevated to interim head coach after felony charges were filed against Chauncey Billups following the season opener. Portland are now interviewing nearly 30 candidates while ownership reportedly hopes to land somebody at the league minimum salary range for head coaches.
New Owner Syndrome Could Push Portland Into A Major Swing
Still, new owner syndrome has a funny way of overriding restraint. We’ve seen it before around the league. Sometimes a new owner buys a franchise and immediately wants fireworks before learning where the matches are stored. Portland may not be quite there yet, but Joe Cronin’s recent comments certainly suggest a front office preparing to explore aggressive options.
“Big splash is definitely something that’s intriguing to us, but only at the right price point. We’re not going to completely sacrifice our future for a short-term swing. But at the same time, we plan to be very active and aggressive and explore all opportunities out there,” Cronin said.
That alone keeps the door slightly open for a blockbuster Antetokounmpo trade despite his reported preference for Eastern Conference teams. Star players tend to develop preferences until another franchise presents a compelling basketball situation. Portland has intriguing young talent, draft flexibility, and perhaps most importantly, upside.
The problem is Portland can’t simply acquire Antetokounmpo and expect everything to magically work itself out. Milwaukee themselves learned that lesson repeatedly. Antekounmpo needs spacing. He needs movement shooting around him. He needs teammates who understand the geometry of chaos he creates every possession charging downhill like a runaway freight train wearing size 17 sneakers. That reality makes “Trail Blazers Must Go Green” more than a pun. It’s roster construction logic. And conveniently enough, AJ Green and Antetokounmpo already come with built-in chemistry.
AJ Green Quietly Solves Portland’s Biggest Problem
At his end-of-season media availability, Cronin made it clear Portland’s shooting deficiencies cannot continue into next season.
“I think, the Spurs series showed us that — really, the whole season — we just don’t shoot the ball well enough,” Cronin said.
That statement alone makes Green one of the cleaner targets Portland could realistically pursue this offseason. Green has quietly developed into one of the NBA’s better movement shooters since entering the league four years ago as an undrafted rookie. He’s a career 42% three-point shooter on 4.9 attempts per game and attempted a career-high 7.1 threes last season while making three per game. For a Portland team that finished among the league’s worst perimeter shooting teams, that level of volume and efficiency would do wonders for their offense.
The Trail Blazers owned a bottom-10 offense largely because defenses simply did not fear enough of their shooters. Everything became crowded. Driving lanes shrank. Half-court possessions turned into exhausting wrestling matches by the third pass. Green changes the math. Sometimes roster building isn’t about finding another star. Sometimes it’s about finding the guy defenders refuse to help off for even half a second.
More importantly, AJ Green and Antetokounmpo already understand how to function together within an offense. Milwaukee frequently used guard screens and flare actions where Green screened for the Greek Freak before relocating beyond the arc for spot-up threes. Alternatively, Antetokounmpo ran dribble handoff actions for him to create spot up opportunities. Green generated 1.27 points per possession on spot up actions, ranking in the 93rd percentile. That familiarity matters. Integrating superstars is rarely seamless, no matter how talented they are. Having a shooter already comfortable playing off Antetokounmpo’s gravitational pull would ease that transition considerably.
If Portland are serious about closing the gap between playoff participant and genuine contender, the Trail Blazers must go green in their Antetokounmpo pursuit.
Featured Image: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
