The Portland Trail Blazers signed Damian Lillard to a three-year, $42 million deal, which should be considered extremely team-friendly if he can return close to the same player he was prior to his brutal Achilles injury. But with Lillard now back in Portland, it makes it even harder to justify the puzzling Jrue Holiday trade.
Portland's revised trade with the Boston Celtics was a straight one-for-one swap for Anfernee Simons. Even with the Blazers getting their second-round picks back, this deal seems like a significant loss for them.
Although we disagreed with the deal in the first place, the idea of trading for Holiday was that he's going to be a great veteran presence, providing Portland with an aging star guard to help them achieve two primary goals: ending a four-year postseason drought and furthering the development of their young core.