In the next couple of days we’ll be discussing the best offseason move possible for the heavyweights in the NBA. Today we’ll be looking at the best possible trade situation for the Portland Trail Blazers, who just finished their best season in a long while.
If you’re a Blazers fan right now, there’s no reason to complain. Portland is coming off a season where they finished 3rd in the Western conference, beat rivals OKC in the first round and beat the Denver Nuggets in a 7-game thriller to advance to the conference finals. Granted, they got swept (again), but that doesn’t mean that it was all bad.
They led by 17 points or more in 3 of the 4 games against the Warriors and they didn’t have Jusuf Nurkic for the entirety of the playoffs. Not only that, but they also got the steal of the draft in Nasir Little from UNC, who fell all the way to the 25th pick in Portland’s lap, after having been projected to be a lottery pick.
The addition of Nurkic and Little to this Portland team could put them over the top, but there’s another big move the Blazers can and should make to really be the big favorites to win it all.
Blake Griffin is going nowhere with the Detroit Pistons and that 1-2 punch between Griffin and Drummond definitely doesn’t seem to work. Griffin is also owed around $36m/year for the next 3 years, which is a lot of money to barely reach the playoffs with a .500 record, just to be swept.
The Blazers would hold on to Little, but would ship off 2 of their bright young players. Zach Collins established himself as a good rim protector and is young big man with solid upside. Anfernee Simons, who was the #7 recruit in 2018 but decided to skip college, also has shown tremendous upside. In the only game Simons played more than 15 minutes in this year, he dropped 37 points on 13/21 shooting and 7/11 from deep in 48 minutes, as the Blazers won against the Kings to secure the third seed, which led to their great playoff run.
To even out the salaries Portland would also include 2 of their highest earning players to Detroit. Kent Bazemore (who got traded for Evan Turner as I was writing this) and his $20m/year contract would be accompanied by Maurice Harkless and his $11m/year contract. Skal Labissiere and Gary Trent Jr. may also be included in the deal. The Blazers would probably also have to part ways with next year’s first round pick and the one in 2022, which won’t be high enough to form a problem for the Blazers.
The Pistons get a chance to rebuild this way, as they get 2-4 young players, a few picks and 2 big expiring contracts, while getting rid of a huge contract in Blake Griffin. They are currently stuck in the worst position in the NBA. Barely making the playoffs, which means no lottery picks to get better, while also not being good enough to get past the first round.
With those players, the Pistons immediately get young players who can get better and grow together, free up future cap space and get more future picks, even though they won’t mean much because the Blazers will be good. Either way, staying stuck there, much like the Charlotte Hornets, will result in years of mediocrity at best, and no one wants that. Sometimes, you have to take risks and part with big-time players.
Courtside 