The Portland Trail Blazers acquire a backup enforcer
It seems increasingly likely that the Toronto Raptors will fully lean into a rebuild this offseason. With the fourth overall pick in tow, promising young players in Gary Trent Jr., OG Anunoby, and Fred VanVleet, and one of the top coaches in the league in Nick Nurse, they could make for a quick return to the postseason if they play their cards right.
Acquiring a young, freak athlete like Derrick Jones Jr. wouldn’t be a bad move. The Raptors no longer have any need for veterans Aron Baynes or DeAndre’ Bembry, but the Trail Blazers could certainly use their services.
Baynes would become the defensive-minded backup center that Portland desperately needs behind Jusuf Nurkic. He would aptly anchor the Blazers reserve defense and isn’t a bad option on offense either. Bringing in the Australian would give new Portland Head Coach Chauncey Billups the ability to play a five-out offense without sizing down.
He shot poorly from deep last season with the Raptors, but hit 35 percent of his triples on over four attempts per game with the Phoenix Suns the prior year.
DeAndre’ Bembry is mostly a salary filler here, but he does have the requisite size and ability to suitably guard backup forwards. If he can recapture the 37 percent deep accuracy he displayed with the Atlanta Hawks in 2017-2018, he’ll be a valuable addition to the Blazers wing depth.