Portland Trail Blazers off-season question #5. Will the team make any trades?
This is the million-dollar question. After another disappointing playoff showing, will we see major personnel changes?
With the coaching change first up, that may mean that this adjustment stops any trades.
But no one knows that for sure. The limp playoff showing from McCollum and Nurkic may mean that we see a trade of one or both of these guys. I think Olshey is too loyal to CJ in particular to move him, but maybe the disastrous game five of the recently completed Nuggets series has pushed him over the edge.
I don’t know if the core of Dame, CJ, and Nurkic is good enough to compete for a title.
If Olshey sees this, and then sees that Powell is a good replacement for CJ at the shooting guard position, we may see a big trade. It’s difficult to see which type of player the Blazers could get in return, but someone like Tobias Harris or Khris Middleton would work well.
It would likely take an asset to be attached to CJ to make these types of deals work, but if players like this were available after their teams had poor playoff series, I would pull the trigger.
The key would be getting someone that fits better with Dame. A forward who was able to make their own shot and defend a little would definitely better next to Dame than CJ does.
Nurk’s trade value is less than CJ’s because he is a big man and because of his injury history. I don’t think that trading Nurk moves the needle at all as well.
If there were to be a big trade, CJ would sadly have to be the guy. He’s a great teammate and has had a great Blazer career, but it may be time for him to move on.
All five of these decisions will play a massive part in deciding one of the most pivotal summers in the Blazers history.