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Portland Trail Blazers trade away Mario Hezonja, bring in Enes Kanter

By Stevie Cozens

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 02: Enes Kanter #11 of the Boston Celtics looses the ball while under pressure from Mario Hezonja #44 and Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers at The Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 02, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - AUGUST 02: Enes Kanter #11 of the Boston Celtics looses the ball while under pressure from Mario Hezonja #44 and Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers at The Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 02, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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The Portland Trail Blazers have traded away Mario Hezonja to the Memphis Grizzlies and brought back Enes Kanter from the Boston Celtics.

The Portland Trail Blazers have used their trade exception to bring in Enes Kanter from the Boston Celtics while sending out Mario Hezonja to the Memphis Grizzlies.

NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski announced the deal in a tweet.

The Blazers had a $7 million exception from a trade earlier in the year where they sent out Kent Bazemore and brought back Trevor Ariza, the discrepancy in salary created this exception.

By using this exception though, they fit Kanter’s approx $5 million salary straight into it. And then they don’t need to use any of their precious mid-level.

Hezonja goes to the Grizzlies in what is basically a salary dump. The Grizzlies may use him though, which is good for Hezonja as he really struggled in his first year with the Blazers. He was likely not to play at all.

The Blazers get back Kanter, who played big minutes for them in the famous Western Conference Finals run in 2019. They needed a backup center, and the Celtics needed to get off salary, so it worked well for both parties.

Further breakdown on this trade to come later – but this is a great move for the Blazers, which didn’t cost them any assets.

Next. Portland Trail Blazers: 3 reasons to love the Robert Covington trade. dark