The Blazers made one trade before the deadline… and that’s it.
Rumors swirled but the deadline ended. The Blazers came away with nothing in the flurry of NBA deals up to the last hour of the NBA Trade Deadline.
Portland had taken care of their dealing before the All-Star break, landing Jusuf Nurkic and a first round pick (via Memphis) from the Nuggets for Mason Plumee and a second rounder. Portland invested in Nurkic’s potential for the future; Denver invested in Plumlee’s playmaking for the current playoff race.
Yet, Portland is in that very same race to the eighth seed, and stood their ground.
Even with the lack of action for Rip City after the Nurkic deal, the rumors did swirl around the team. From the team’s star duo in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, to long-rumored Jahlil Okafor, and even Festus Ezeli, who hasn’t suited up for a single game this season due to injury.
Rumors are just that: rumors. Often, rumors don’t have any merit to them, or are blown out of proportion to reality. But, rumors can lead to insight when they are accurate. Think LaMarcus Aldridge possibly viewing other destinations to actually leaving for another destination.
I’ll recap five rumors that mentioned the Blazers, and see if they had any merit.