What we wish the Blazers did at the trade deadline

Keith Feltner-Smith

Like much of this season for the Blazers, I see Portland’s action at the trade deadline as a mixed bag. There were both positive and negative takeaways, but mostly, there was inaction. In the end, I was most excited about what the Blazers DIDN’T do… which probably isn’t a good sign overall.

What the Blazers did wrong

The bad news first: I wish Noah Vonleh didn’t have to go. It should be seen as one more mark against Olshey, as Vonleh was the last remnant of the Nicolas Batum trade (Gerald Henderson being the other). I would have hoped that Portland could have retained some lasting value from giving up so much talent.

While Vonleh had some solid runs of being a mainstay in the rotation, he was never quite able to lock it down – whether that was due more to his play or the ever-changing lineups, we may never know.

I do know this: Noah played 20+ minutes in 11 games for Portland this season, and the Blazers won eight of those games. He still had untapped potential that needed exposure, and I was hoping it would eventually emerge here in Portland.

What the Blazers did right

Now, let me talk about what the Blazers did right by continuing to hammer home a point that doesn’t seem nearly widespread enough around town:

It’s GOOD that we didn’t get DeAndre Jordan. VERY. GOOD.

I get that fans are frustrated with Jusuf Nurkic and want a change; I am too!

Offensive discrepancies between Nurkic and Jordan

But sometimes when we’re frustrated, we look for the quick fix instead of thinking about what we’ll need down the road. Jordan could have (maybe) been that quick fix. His defense would be an improvement, sure, but his offense is extremely limited. He’d also likely be nothing more than a short-term rental, as his contract status would change our salary cap issues from “an obstacle” into “an impenetrable wall that could hamstring the franchise almost as effectively as the contracts handed out in the summer of 2016”.

Yes, Nurk is having trouble around the rim. And yes, DJ dunks everything. That’s partly because if he didn’t dunk it, it’s not going in. Jordan’s shot, when he’s not above the rim with the ball in his hands, is absolutely atrocious. While Jusuf has only been in the NBA for three years and is still honing his touch and his range, DeAndre has had nine NBA seasons to work on his shot, and STILL can’t be trusted to score unless he’s within three feet of the hoop.

Let’s not forget about offensive versatility either. While Nurk may not have every one of his moves polished yet, he has nothing less than an arsenal of footwork, spins, and hookshots. Plus, he is certainly learning how to create for himself, something thing that Jordan has yet to figure out. DeAndre’s offensive bag-of-tricks consists of the following… (Plan A) Catch the ball close to or above the rim, and dunk it, or (Plan B) Rebound the ball, and go back up to dunk it.

Financial discrepancies between Nurkic and Jordan

And then, there’s the cost. Portland is already worried about having to sign Nurkic to a new contract and what it could cost, but I can tell you one thing: it won’t be higher than DeAndre Jordan’s pricetag!

Jordan makes $22.6 million this season, and that bumps up to above $24 million next year. It gets worse; that year is a Player Option for Jordan, meaning he can choose whether to stay (and Portland wouldn’t have a choice), or simply leave the Blazers with nothing.

But wait, it gets… worser! IF he stayed, and we paid him that $24 mill, the problem would repeat the following offseason, since the contract would be over and Portland would have to negotiate a new one or let him go. After one year with Jordan, the Blazers would be facing the same decision that looms over them this coming offseason with Nurkic. Except Jordan’s price would be much higher.

Overall decision

Did we really want to give up Jusuf Nurkic, a young rising star with untapped potential, because he hasn’t been as polished as we hoped and might ask for a high price next year? For the record, he’s played 55 games this year and his stats have taken only a slight dip from the 20 game sample we saw at the end of last season. It’s not that bad!

DeAndre Jordan has already reached his ceiling, has obvious limitations, and holding on to him going forward would be even more difficult and more costly. Defense is great, but Portland isn’t doing so bad defensively that we should sacrifice so much of our future to get a little more of it. This trade wasn’t going to make the Blazers contenders this year, and they’d be in a worse situation after that.

This should never have been a debate. Nurkic stays and the Blazers are better for it.