Portland Trail Blazers: Blazers finally make an offseason trade that impacts the team

Rob Ryan   |  

Sep 6, 2021

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After several weeks of crickets and tumbleweeds, the Portland Trail Blazers make a three-team trade that makes a positive impact this week.

In a three-team trade that featured the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland was able to rid itself of a player in Derrick Jones Jr. Larry Nance Jr., who is a starter-level talent, will be replacing Jones, who had fallen out of the rotation altogether.

Here is what the full three-team trade looks like

• Portland sends Derrick Jones Jr., and a top 10 protected 2022 first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls.
• Chicago sends Lauri Markkanen in a sign and trade four-year, 67 million dollar contract to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Cleveland helps clear space for the sign and trade by sending Larry Nance Jr. to the Portland Trail Blazers and sending Chicago a 2023 second-round pick.

What does this do for Portland?

This does quite a bit for Portland, actually. First, Portland fills in its most significant hole in the roster by finally addressing the backup power forward slot vacated by Carmelo Anthony. Second, they rectify the horrifying defensive woes that the bench frontcourt had this past season. Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller are defensive upgrades while not losing too much of Enes Kanter’s and Carmelo Anthony’s offensive punch. 

Not only does Nance Jr. significantly upgrade the bench, but he’s almost like a swiss army knife in case any injuries happen to the starters. Do you need a solid rebounder who can protect the paint? Check. How about an athletic small forward with the lateral quickness to keep up with most wings? Check. And a power forward who can be a slasher to the basket or pass the ball, all while shooting a good enough 36 percent from three to space the floor? Check. 

No matter how you slice it, Portland raised the bar on its potential going into the 2021-22 season. I’m not sure if it’s enough to make them contenders, but they are much closer to the goal than they were before. It will be interesting to see how Chauncey Billups decides to utilize the additional flexibility and defensive ability.

The dearly departed

One of the best parts of this trade is how little the Blazers actually had to give up. Realistically, they only lost one asset, their 2022 first-round pick. If this trade improves the team like I think it will, it looks to translate into a later first-round pick, one of less value. In addition, the departure of Derrick Jones Jr. isn’t much of a sting. He had been an awkward fit for much of the first half of the season. 

Despite being a high-energy man-to-man defender, Derrick seemed to struggle in team defense situations and was often a weakness entirely on the offensive side of the ball. Smaller than most forwards and without most guards’ ball-handling or shooting ability made him feel out of place, especially with the starters. His highlights might have been fun to watch, but I was not shocked when he fell out of the rotation altogether after the Norman Powell acquisition. 

That being said, I wish Derrick a ton of luck moving forward with the Chicago Bulls, as I still think he has many potentials. But, unfortunately, I don’t believe Portland can afford right now to wait around for it.

Overall trade grade- A+

What do you think of the trade? Let us know in the comments below.