Recent trade rumors have sparked the possibility of a player like Domantas Sabonis playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.
In his heyday, Arvydas Sabonis was one of the most interesting players the sport of basketball has ever seen. Although he did probably wait a little too long to make his jump to the NBA and join the Portland Trail Blazers, there’s very few players in team history Portland holds in higher regard. While his playing days in the league were limited, he has offered us basketball fans one final gift: a son.
Yes, Domantas Sabonis is the heir to his father’s basketball legacy. While things have thus far been a work in progress, he has clearly demonstrated rapid signs of improvement and could one day become an integral part of a championship contender…
… But just not with the Indiana Pacers. Per Sam Amick of the Athletic, the team is reportedly aggressively exploring the trade market to swing a deal for Sabonis with the intent of clearing up their frontcourt rotation.
Sources, at @TheAthletic: One of the NBA's best young big men might be on the move https://t.co/PyZpzOkUZb
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) October 18, 2019
Unlike most of the commonly mentioned trade target candidates for the Portland Trail Blazers, Sabonis holds the distinction of not being a burden on their already exorbitant team payroll. He is set to make just $3.5 million this season, an amount easily matchable for the Blazers.
Although he is set to hit restricted free agency next summer, Portland’s hands still wouldn’t be completely tied. They would possess the ability to match any offer sheet Sabonis signs. Holding his bird rights would also mean they could exceed the NBA’s set cap room total to retain the Lithuanian big man.
If they opted to not dish out the big bucks to keep him, they could organize a sign-and-trade for an interested suitor — much like we saw last summer with stars such as Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler. Ultimately, Sabonis affords the Blazers much more flexibility in their decision-making than most other trade targets would or ever could.
Truth be told, he’d also just be a great fit here in Portland.
While Jusuf Nurkic was having the best season of his career last year with the Blazers, Sabonis was quietly putting up a relatively similar performance in Indiana. Let’s compare their statistical performances (per 100 possessions) from last season.
Nurkic: 27.6 PTS, 18.4 REB, 5.7 AST, 1.7 STL, 116 ORtg, 105 DRtg
Sabonis: 27.8 PTS, 18.4 REB, 5.6 AST, 1.3 STL, 118 ORtg, 104 DRtg
But let’s go deeper than surface level box score statistics. Perhaps a little insight from advanced analytics could paint a better picture of the similarities and differences between the two.
Nurkic: 57.0 TS%, 20.2 TRB%, 17.9 AST%, 1.6 OBPM, 3.6 DBPM
Sabonis: 63.0 TS%, 20.8 TRB%, 18.2 AST%, 1.5 OBPM, 2.2 DBPM
Even still, we can see the two players put up relatively similar production. Even their Win Shares on both ends of the court directly align with each other.
Sabonis has the edge as a slightly more efficient scorer. Yet, he could probably be doing more to stretch the floor — only taking 17 shots from 3-point range last year, but drilling 9 of them. Nurkic on the other end, is a more competent defender and rim protector, averaging 1.4 blocks per game as opposed to Sabonis’ mark of 0.4 per contest.
That being said, I’m fairly confident almost everyone would agree Nurkic has been a steal, only earning $12 million a year. By that logic, shouldn’t a player that gives similar production at price tag of just $3.5 million be worth aggressively pursuing?
While I am one of many expecting big things from Zach Collins this season, it is risky to bank the entire season on an unproven player’s ability to eliminate all of his flaws in just one offseason. At worst, Sabonis is an excellent insurance plan. At best, a frontcourt rotation of Nurkic, Sabonis, Collins and Hassan Whiteside would easily be the best in the NBA.
Retaining Whiteside and Kent Bazemore would also still give the Portland Trail Blazers the financial assets necessary to swing a big move for a star at the trade deadline. If Sabonis is truly on the trade block, there is zero reason for Neil Olshey to not pick up the phone and try facilitating a trade.
And c’mon, wouldn’t it be awesome to rock a black and red Sabonis jersey once again?
The deadline for the Pacers to sign Domantas Sabonis to an extension before hitting restricted free agency this summer is October 21, at 3 p.m. PT.