Portland Trail Blazers: 4 good trades Neil Olshey can make before the deadline
We asked our contributing writers to submit their best Portland Trail Blazers trade idea. These are their answers.
The Portland Trail Blazers have a good team this year. They are led by their superstar Damian Lillard who is putting up MVP-like numbers. He is averaging 29.8 points (third in the NBA) and 7.7 assists per game (10th). Due to CJ McCollum‘s injury, Gary Trent Jr. stepped up and is hitting a blistering 44.7 percent of his three-point attempts. Since he became the starter, Trent’s PPG is up to 19.9, and the Blazers are 9-4 (including 8 of the last 9).
Even with these great performers, most Rip City fans know the team’s roster could use some adjustments if they want to go to the Western Conference Finals. Robert Covington has been a disappointment on offense, and the team lacks a natural power forward with Zach Collins out of the lineup long-term again.
With five weeks left until the trade deadline, we asked our contributing writers to come up with their best Portland Trail Blazers trade idea. There were three rules they had to follow:
1) Must use https://tradenba.com/trade-machine for cap compliance.
2) Trade has to be somewhat realistic.
3) You have to be able to justify it for all teams in your write-up.
*Any trade involving Rodney Hood must take place after March 3 due to NBA salary cap rules.
We got four trades with four big targets. You be the judge.
Rob Ryan
Trade: Portland sends Rodney Hood (Por, 2-yrs, $10M), Anfernee Simons (Por, 2-yrs, $10M), Zach Collins (Por, 1-yr, $5.4M), and an unprotected 2022 first-round pick for Aaron Gordon (2yrs, $18.1M)
What’s in it for Portland
Portland brings in a 25-year-old athletic power forward who has improved his perimeter shooting and defense over the last few years. Gordon often has been labeled as a player with star potential but has never quite found the opportunity to show what he is capable of. I think with the roster around him in Portland; we could actually see him reach his potential.
What’s in it for Orlando
The Magic take a chance on the potential of Anfernee Simons while adding a first-round pick. Orlando takes a flyer on Gordon’s possible replacement in Zach Collins, a former lottery pick who has flashed defensive ability beyond his years. Hood becomes cap filler that can come off the books this summer if the team desires.