There have been some interesting unconfirmed Trail Blazers rumors surrounding the team in the last few days. The Portland Trail Blazers were part of a big three-team trade, but there were other parts of the trade which didn’t end up materializing.
The trade, announced by NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, was as follows.
The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Larry Nance Jr to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Chicago Bulls traded Lauri Markkanen to the Cavaliers, and the Blazers traded Derrick Jones Jr to the Bulls.
The Bulls then also received a protected first-round pick from the Blazers, and a second-round pick from the Cavs.
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
Though this move has been praised by many for the Blazers, it seems like other moves didn’t get through that were proposed by the team.
Daniel Greenberg, a well-known aggregator in the Chicago sports market, quoted a podcast from Bulls insider KC Johnson where it said that the Blazers originally offered Derrick Jones Jr and the first-round pick for Lauri Markkanen. It’s unclear whether this was confirmed by other major outlets, but KC Johnson is a legitimate reporter so it’s probably true.
At the moment, Nance Jr is a superior player to Markannen, and he fits better with Jusuf Nurkic or off the bench with Cody Zeller. Because Markkanen can’t really move his feet out on the perimeter or protect the rim, he is a bad fit with both Zeller and Nurkic who aren’t able to competently defend on the perimeter either. Nance is a player that can help the Blazers now.
The Portland Trail Blazers originally offered Derrick Jones Jr and a draft pick for Lauri Markkanen but the Chicago Bulls wanted another pick.
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) August 27, 2021
That’s when the Cleveland Cavaliers came into the deal.
(Via @KCJHoop on Bulls Talk Podcast)
Interestingly, when Nance was traded from the Cavs, his ex-teammate and Portland native, Kevin Love, was apparently disappointed that Nance was traded to. the Blazers instead of him.
The chances of a Love trade to the Blazers though, were almost zero at the time. Because his salary is around $30 million the Blazers would have to have moved CJ McCollum, or Jusuf Nurkic and Jones, and that wouldn’t make sense considering what the Blazers needed, nor was Love valuable enough for either of those trades to be worth it.
In the end, the Blazers got the best player of these three, in Nance Jr. He fits what they need right now in strengthening their bench.