No, this is not an NBA blog but part of the reason that beer is part of my story is because I am from Portland and Portland is inextricably tied to the Blazers and currently the health of Damian Lillard’s abdomen.
Which means a kinda-sorta-no good season needed some action to set-up next year, replenish draft picks or to at least avoid the luxury tax.
The latter being why the trigger was pulled to trade forwards Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Los Angeles Clippers for guard Eric Bledsoe, forward Justise Winslow, and guard Keon Johnson. The Blazers will also receive a second-round pick and a trade exception in the deal.
Then, the big deal came down on Tuesday, CJ McCollum being traded to the New Orleans Pelicans for forward Josh Hart, guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoransky and draft compensation.
We then turned around and sent Alexander-Walker and Satoransky away to the Jazz and Spurs respectively and received back more picks and currently injured three point specialist Joe Ingles.
I think that Hart and Ingles have the most current upside with Johnson and having future upside. The draft picks will require some mining to find something but if the plan is to go young, the process has begun.
The beer link is community. As the Blazers do well, more people go to games, buy merch like the pint glass above, there is a spring in the step of fans and non-fans alike. You see Blazer themed beers popping up more. People head to sports bars, especially if there is a deep playoff run. You hear cheering outside your window. I have seen that joy as both the Dodgers and Rams have had recent success.
The Rising Tide maxim becomes plainly clear. Community matters and we need more of it whether it is basketball or IPAs.