The Portland Trail Blazers gained some mileage when they made it to the NBA Western Conference finals. Although they were outclassed by the Golden State Warriors 4-0, there is no place to go but up for Portland next season. They could add a player or two with focus on getting another big man in the fold.

One loophole for the Blazers is the middle. Following the injury to Jusuf Nurkic back in March, head coach Terry Stotts turned to Leonard Myers to start at center with Zach Collins and Enes Kanter as alternates. That rotation failed to hold up, meaning it is one department the Blazers could look to improve this coming free agency. As of this writing, there are no names being mentioned although there are the 2019 NBA Draft and free agency that could help Portland bolster that center position.

The Blazers could also look to trade up and get a tested center-forward to help Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. There is no denying that the Blazers have a loaded backcourt, meaning getting a player or two to join them up front could add more promise to the team.

According to The Bleacher Report, the Blazers had looked into the possibility of possibly trading for Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite being on an expiring deal and losing most of its key players, the Cavs had little to no interest in trading the All-Star cager and believed they could use him to be the next guy to lead the team. Love would eventually get a five-year deal worth $113.2 million although the 30-year-old played sparingly.

With the Cavs now focused on developing a new team, Love could be expendable. They do have a new head coach in John Beilein who was chosen specifically to help develop young players for Cleveland. Among the young stars include Colin Sexton who said in a previous post that he was looking forward to working with the 66-year-old mentor.

The important point to consider here is that the Cavs want to develop the young pack. Hence, it somehow questions the future of Love and perhaps even Tristan Thompson. As far as Love is concerned, the Blazers could revisit that old interest and make an offer to the Cavs. A possible deal could include Maurice Harkless, Myers Leonard, and a future draft pick. It all depends on how the Blazers do the numbers crunch if they want to address their frontline woes for the 2019-20 NBA season.

Kevin Love
Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oct. 19, 2018. Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
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