The Portland Trail Blazers obtain veteran bench presences from the Chicago Bulls
Why this trade works:
The Chicago Bulls are another team that is misguided in thinking that they’re on the cusp of becoming a serious playoff threat. Even with newly acquired Nikola Vucevic in tow, the Bulls are another All-Star-level player away from making any kind of noise in the postseason.
This trade would give them the potential to add another top-tier player. Collins was a lottery pick just four years ago, is still only 22-years old, and has shown flashes of future stardom in the limited time he’s been healthy in his young NBA career. He could very well be what Chicago has been waiting on Lauri Markkanen to be.
In return, the Blazers acquire two solid, if unexciting veterans in Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple. Both players are heady professionals who know where to be and when to be there. While they might not outright win Portland any games, they certainly won’t lose them either—which is more than the Blazers can say of their bench units past.
They’ll space the floor, play passable defense, and give the Blazers bench much needed consistency and reliability.
The Portland Trail Blazers get a stretch-five and rim protector from the Toronto Raptors
Why this trade works:
Aron Baynes is the exact type of role player that can elevate a team’s ceiling. While he’ll never make an All-Star team, he has all the tools that dictate success in today’s NBA.
Baynes had an off year last season, but in 2019-2020, shot 35 percent from deep on over four attempts per game, while filling in admirably as a starting center during DeAndre Ayton’s suspension and anchoring the Phoenix Suns defense as a starter or off the pine.
The Toronto Raptors should be looking to start their rebuild around Pascal Siakam and Portland’s very own Gary Trent Jr. this next season. They’ll have no use for a role player of Baynes’s age and caliber. Adding Collins would give them a younger stretch-big to grow alongside their core.