Kent Bazemore was traded in mid-January, now the Trail Blazers need to find a home for Hassan Whiteside. How would a Gordon Hayward swap work?
Hassan Whiteside has a $27 million expiring salary and needs to be moved by the Trail Blazers before the trade deadline on February 6th. Regardless of what he is producing on court, this team won’t be re-signing him.
The main reason Whiteside should be traded is that the Blazers are over the cap, if they don’t trade him, then they don’t have the cap room to replace him. Trading Whiteside’s expiring is the most important task for this team in trade season.
Now that Kent Bazemore has been traded they have solved their wing problem. This was a good move but it also means that when Whiteside is traded that they have to bring a strong backup center back in the deal.
Jusuf Nurkic can’t be relied on for 30 minutes a night until at least late February. So if they could find a deal for Whiteside then they need to bring back a starting calibre centre who won’t mind shifting back to the bench later. This may not be easy.
There are potential options on the market but Whiteside’s $27 million salary makes things difficult. Not impossible, just difficult. They may have to waive a player and then bring back two in a trade. This would most likely be Caleb Swanigan or Mario Hezonja, as both are on minimum contracts.
The other point to note is that Trevor Ariza can’t be sent back out in a multiplayer trade until the summer. This is because he was brought in on a multiplayer trade and has a 60 day stand down period till he can be sent out in another one.
Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis could fit all the above needs perfectly.
Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis
Trading for Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics is a swing for the fences type deal that only gets done if the Blazers give up assets. This isn’t to say that the Celtics would do it in a heartbeat, but this is the type of deal you do to get over the top in the Western Conference.
Hayward is still a top 50 player in the league. He can pass, he plays both sides of the ball, can score inside and out and has playoff experience. His herky-jerky game combined with great size, immense IQ and play-making ability would give the Blazers a wing presence they haven’t had since the days of the great Clyde Drexler.
The deal construction is as follows.
Giving up next year’s first round pick would be a no-brainer in this deal. Obviously protections would need to be decided but they could be worked out based on the final package. If this move was made at the deadline, Jusuf Nurkic would be back so Theis would fit in seamlessly alongside him. Swanigan would help with matching salary and then the Celtics could cut him to clear another roster spot.
Theis would also need to be absorbed into the Bazmore trade exception to make this deal work, while Swanigan would be absorbed into the minimum salary exception.
The Celtics would address their rim protection issues while clearing some salary for next season. With Jaylen Brown‘s extension kicking in this summer, alongside the rookie extension of Jayson Tatum, the Celtics need to clear space so they can build for the future. This first round pick in combination with the Memphis Grizzlies first they posses, could net them a star at the deadline or around the time of the draft next season.
The Celtics main issue moving forward is cap space. With Brown on a near max deal, Tatum likely to get the same, then Kemba Walker and Hayward’s deal’s, this team will be a long way over the cap and looking at a massive tax bill. When Brown and Tatum are in their primes in a couple of years they wont be able to pay for Hayward’s next deal.
Currently they play Tatum a lot at the four, but he is better suited to the three where he can abuse mismatches. Moving Hayward and potentially clearing some cap room for the summer may mean they could sign a traditional four and leave Tatum to play the three.
For the Blazers, they would be able to add in a wing who would complement Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum perfectly. Hayward is one of the best play-makers at his position and would open the floor up significantly for his teammates. He would add positional size on the defensive end also.
Most importantly, Hayward is 29 and on the same timeline of Dame and CJ. The Blazers are ready to win now, so he fits the bill perfectly.
Theis would also be a good addition for the Blazers, he could fill the backup center spot behind Nurkic and has a developing three-point shot. He would add toughness off the bench and could start if required while Nurkic is getting his feet under him.
He has a $5 million non-guarantee next year but the Blazers could guarantee that or use his bird rights to bring him back.
Whiteside needs to be moved this season, if the Blazers first rounder for next year is enough to get it done on top of Whiteside’s expiring salary, then they should pull the trigger.