The Portland Trail Blazers have traded away Derrick Jones Jr. and their lottery protected 2022 first-round pick as part of three-team transaction with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, and will receive forward Larry Nance Jr.
ESPN Sources: Cleveland’s acquiring Chicago’s Lauri Markkanen in three-way sign and trade with Portland. Bulls get Derrick Jones Jr., POR’s lottery protected future 1st and Cavs’ future second-rounder. POR gets Larry Nance Jr. https://t.co/CgN3mhaLHY
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 27, 2021
After a quiet offseason for the Blazers, despite the ambiguous ultimatum issued by superstar Damian Lillard, and troubled, former lottery pick Lauri Markkanen, both parties have now taken a step toward their new futures.
Portland has secured a new piece to aid in their title chase, the Chicago Bulls have moved forward from their disgruntled 2017 seventh-overall pick and acquired a young versatile piece in return, and the Cleveland Cavaliers will take a hard second-look at a struggling prospect with plenty of potential.
Grading each team’s part in the Portland Trail Blazers – Cleveland Cavaliers – Chicago Bulls three-team trade
On the surface level, this trade seems to be a win-win-win for all three teams involved. Let’s delve into the full deal and see how each organization fared in the move.
Grading Lauri Markkanen – Derrick Jones Jr. – Larry Nance Jr. three-team trade: Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are entering a new era and are making a strong push for the playoffs. This offseason, they were one of the busiest teams in free agency, having signed former All-Star DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Tony Bradley, and Lonzo Ball.
They also acquired Ayo Dosunmu via draft and have now shipped out Lauri Markkanen for Derrick Jones Jr. and future draft compensation.
While this move in particular probably won’t help them much in the immediate future, their split with Lauri was inevitable and beneficial to both sides.
The return they received for Markkanen is a fair one. While the sweet-shooting seven-footer still has loads of potential, recent history shows that he’s more likely to be an explosive, but inconsistent role player than a future star.
The league seemed pretty lukewarm on the idea of trading for the fifth-year forward, most likely due to the fact that any team signing-and-trading for him would have hard-capped themselves in the process.
A lottery protected FRP, a future second-rounder, and a flier of a young prospect in DJJ is as good a return as the Bulls could have gotten for Lauri, especially for the four-year/$67 million contract he landed with Cleveland according to spotrac. Jones Jr. might not see much floor-time next season, or even finish the year with Chicago, but if he can improve enough on offense to earn minutes, he’ll be a welcome addition on a team that will desperately need his defense.
Grade: B+