Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns.
With the NBA trade deadline days away, it’s now or never for the Portland Trail Blazers to make some season-redeeming moves. Here are three trade ideas that would shake up the teams’ recent funk that has seen them play under .500 ball since their 9-3 start to the season.
This trade first has to be predicated by the Portland Trail Blazers either creating a side deal with the Chicago Bulls or removing protections on this year’s pick, thus opening up access to future picks. It might seem like an overpay, which it is. This is what it’s going to take to get a deal done finally.
Deandre Ayton currently looks like a slight improvement over Jusuf Nurkic on paper. But the Blazers would be rolling the dice on him, not reaching his potential in Phoenix. He’s still only 24 years old.
I’ve been a Nurkic fan for years, but his inconsistency is finally wearing thin. On his good days, he plays like a borderline All-Star, but those days are few and far between. This might be one of the only scenarios where it makes sense to move him.
It works for Phoenix because they maintain a starting-level center while obtaining draft picks and a solid rotation player in Josh Hart, should they choose to re-sign him or flip him for another asset.
At this point, Ayton seems to be wearing thin with the Suns, similar to Nurkic’s status with the Blazers. Fresh starts could benefit and motivate both players.
I can already hear the complaints about trading Anfernee Simons. This one isn’t a slight at Simons; he will be a legit star in this league.
The problem is that he falls under the same umbrella of issues that plagued the Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum backcourt. Although Simons is a better spot-up shooter than McCollum and incrementally better on defense, he’s still too much of a liability that ends up disrupting the Portland Trail Blazers frontcourt, which much too often has to over-compensate.
The potential Simons has on Portland’s offense is swapped for what OG Anunoby can do on the defensive side of the ball. Think of the impact Draymond Green has for Golden State and how Dame has levied for that kind of player on his team for years.
Anunoby could arguably be a younger, better offensive version of Draymond Green when it’s all said and done.
The Portland Trail Blazers would certainly miss Ant’s offense. But with Jerami Grant and Dame already on the roster, they have enough perimeter-oriented offensive players.
They need a third scorer who could get more points in the paint or with a solid mid-range game. Losing Watford would hurt; he’s been a sparkplug off the bench.
By bringing in Thaddeus Young, Watford’s minutes decrease anyhow. Youngs’ contract becomes an expiring one next year, which could help the Portland Trail Blazers make a smaller move down the road if needed.
Reports are Toronto wants a huge package for Anunoby. However, getting a player back in Simons, who is only 23 years old and already looks like he has enormous star potential, has to even up that value.
Ant looks even better to Toronto, given that he already plays elite whenever he’s had the starting point guard role without Dame. Simons has averaged 29 points per game in the 10 games Dame missed this season.
This one is a little more complicated. Three-team trades are always hard to sort out, so this might not be as spot-on.
If this deal were to go down, it would see the Portland Trail Blazers essentially cashing out their Josh Hart trade chip, along with two second-round picks for a trial run with Saddiq Bey as the starting small forward, while also getting a legit backup at the center spot.
On the other hand, if the experiment sours then the Blazers still have Bey going into the final year of his rookie contract. They’d be in a similar situation to try and move him by next year’s trade deadline.
This might be the kind of mood that not only gives a trial run for Bey but also extends the opportunity to see how a Dame and Ant backcourt can gel without having to play with an undersized small forward.
With New York, Josh Hart returns to his natural shooting guard position, where he excels. He should return to similar offensive stats that he put up last year. Detroit gets draft capital and a couple of youngsters to either develop or let walk for salary relief.
In my opinion, Portland will make at least 1 deadline move. I can’t see them risking losing Josh Hart for nothing, so they will move him for at least a 1st round pick and a salary filler player in return.
After that, they will try and swing that pick for size and length. If they strike out on the obvious choices, then they will hold onto the pick or try and flip it to Chicago to get its own pick back in return.
The Blazers will also address their backup center, likely a smaller trade involving an out-of-rotation player and or 2nd round picks. Either that or they try to create some wiggle room to bring in a big man on a minimum contract.
After the trade deadline, the team will push for Nassir Little to replace Hart as the starting small forward. A healthy Justise Winslow would likely be the better fit, but starter minutes might propel Little’s offseason trade value, which means these kinds of small moves will be needed if GM Joe Cronin strikes out on a small forward.
Though I don’t expect anything big, the potential is still there. That will keep me glued to all the major media sites as the trade deadline ticks down. Several questions will get answered that day; whether Rip City likes the answer or not is for another day.
What do you think the Portland Trail Blazers will do at the trade deadline?