The Portland Trail Blazers’ decision to flip assets to shed payroll is likely to turn a few heads — and signals a striking transition for the franchise.
Trade season officially began for the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, when they seemingly punted on the season by shipping out Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver (as well as two future draft picks) in exchange for the meager return of Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel, and former Blazer alumnus Caleb Swanigan.
It appears the primary intention of this deal was to cut a significant portion of Portland’s luxury tax bill. While the organization only shed $2.5 million in actual payroll, the Trail Blazers are set to dodge a bill of over $10 million in luxury tax fines by making this trade.
Entering the season, the Portland Trail Blazers boasted by far the largest payroll in the NBA. Coming off the heels of a Western Conference Finals appearance, this was seen as a tough to swallow but necessary price to pay to field a legitimate contender. Unfortunately, injuries and a disappointing start to the season have forced the front office’s hand.
Portland has traded Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver and two second- round picks to Sacramento for Trevor Ariza, Wendell Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 18, 2020
While this trade may have looked genius two years ago, it would be very surprising to see any of the acquired pieces enjoy a long stay in Rip City. This year, Ariza is averaging a meager 6 points and 4.6 rebounds, despite seeing a healthy 24.7 minutes per game. Nearing the latter half of his 30’s, Ariza’s career arc only looks downhill from here.
Meanwhile, Gabriel still hasn’t shown he can hold a rotation spot at the NBA level yet, while Swanigan is just a grim reminder of Portland’s wasted first-round pick in 2017 as he continues to grow heavier and look worse in each consecutive season.
Bazemore’s stint in Portland certainly didn’t go the way everyone hoped it would. That being said, he bought into the system and seemed genuinely thrilled to be with the Trail Blazers. Meanwhile, Tolliver seemed to recover from his atrocious start to the season and was providing valuable shooting and high IQ plays. If nothing else, his leadership and locker room presence was worth a lot to this struggling team.
Now, it seems the Trail Blazers have just decided to sell low on the very few tradable assets they held. Giving up draft capital for nothing is especially egregious.
Damian Lillard already leads the league in minutes played. Of the four players intended to start alongside him, none are healthy and available to play. Subtracting two key rotational players have only exacerbated the toll this will take on his body.
For Monday night’s game against Golden State, the Trail Blazers only had seven active players on the main roster. They needed to call up a pair of two-way players in Jaylen Hoard and Moses Brown to even field anything resembling an actual basketball team. Despite his greatness in a franchise-record 61-point performance, it’s unacceptable for Lillard to be on the court for 45 minutes on any given night.
How many times do the Trail Blazers have to get burned by injuries to realize that maybe driving their star into the ground isn’t the best idea?
Worse yet, it’s not likely the moves end there. As it currently stands, Portland is $6.1 million over the luxury tax line. If they’re really throwing the towel in on this season, it would not be surprising to see the team look to move Hassan Whiteside to get under that line.
Considering Lillard and Whiteside’s play have been among the few bright spots in this blemished season, it’s strange the organization seems intent on doing everything they can to also ruin that. This trade doesn’t quite mark the end of times, but I must admit I fear for what’s in store for the immediate future.