Grading the last 12 months of Portland Trail Blazers trades
Norman Powell: B+ (for now)
At the NBA trade deadline, the Portland Trail Blazers were frantically trying to upgrade the roster. After supposedly striking out on Aaron Gordon, the team sent a couple of backup wing players Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood to Toronto for swingman Norman Powell.
Powell, typically a shooting guard, was playing out of position for Toronto. The Raptors attempted to maximize their team’s potential. The 6-3 sharpshooter was averaging 19.6 points per game and was a solid defender when the trade took place.
Admittedly, losing Gary Trent Jr. hurt. His attitude and hot shooting were things the Portland Trail Blazers bench lacked until his arrival. As his value continued to rise, it became more and more obvious that retaining him after the season and forking up big money for another guard wasn’t something the team wanted to do.
One thing about signing a young player is that the team is kind of signing them based on potential. Trent already showed himself to be a solid player, but was his “potential” going to be worth that extra money for the Blazers? Norman Powells’ situation was a little different due to the fact he’s a known commodity.
Powell had more experience playing small forward than GTJ and wins every comparison you can think of between the two. No matter how incremental that difference is, this team needs every small improvement it can get. I think that this trade was meant to set up Powell as the team’s future shooting guard if CJ McCollum gets moved this summer. I gave this trade a B+ for now.
In Conclusion
None of these trades made in the last 12 months are home runs. However, the team did get a few singles and a double out of them. In all practicality, these trades turned three bench players and a past his prime starter into arguably Portlands’ fourth through sixth-best players on the team (I have Carmelo just behind Kanter as the teams’ 7th best player). It will be interesting to see how this roster looks going into this next season.
How would you grade the Portland Trail Blazers from the last year? Add your comments below or on social media.