Sacramento Kings
Why It Makes Sense for the Portland Trail Blazers
In the modern NBA, it’s never a bad idea to trade for a big man who can space the floor and Nemanja Bjelica definitely fits the bill. For the third consecutive season, he shot better than 40 percent from deep, joining Karl-Anthony Towns as the only big men to have done so during that stretch.
Bjelica is not much of an interior presence for a man of his height but he makes up for that with a quality all-around defensive game. He led the Kings in defensive win shares last season and has been a consistent net positive on that end of the court throughout his career.
With Zach Collins dealing with nagging injury problems early in his career, it will be nice to have another power forward to rely on should he go down hurt again.
The 35th pick gives Portland more options and opportunities in the deep 2020 draft. Using it and their 46th pick, the Blazers could move back into the first round if a player they like is on the board.
While Hood has been good at times in Portland, his performance coming off a torn ACL is a relative unknown at this point, and cashing in on him for another solid starter and a decent draft pick could very well be the right move in the long run.
Why It Makes Sense for Sacramento:
Sacramento is a team that is looking to get younger, not older and Bjelica being 32 and a half years old isn’t looking too enticing for them on that end. By cashing out on him now before he regressed, the Kings would be getting themselves a scoring forward entering the prime of his career and if he comes back at full form, it could end up being a big steal for them.
Harrison Barnes’ performance at small forward has been inconsistent at best and Hood could compete with him for the starting job in 2021. Hood is also on a team-friendly six million dollar contract for next season. If he performs well, Sacramento could have the possibility to bring him back long-term on the cheap as teams throw their money at the bigger names in the 2021 free agency class.