A 3 trade plan to save the Trail Blazers season, my bid for the GM job
By Andy Quach
The Portland Trail Blazers upgrade their interior defense
Why the Trail Blazers do it:
Portland has long needed an eraser manning the middle to cover for the mistakes that Damian Lillard makes on the perimeter. Here, they nab a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Myles Turner.
Turner is younger, more mobile, and a better shot blocker than Jusuf Nurkic. He’s versatile enough to switch when needed, but is best suited to drop into the paint and send weak shots into the stands.
He also offers the Blazers both vertical and perimeter spacing on offense, a combination they’ve never had.
Turner is the perfect center to play next to Damian Lillard and he needs to be freed from Domantas Sabonis’s big shadow in Indy.
Why the Pacers do it:
Just like Dame and CJ, the Sabonis-Turner pairing has run its course. Indiana needs to find a way to free up the paint for Sabonis, without turning Myles into a corner 3-point shooter.
This trade gives them a perfect frontcourt pairing for Sabonis in Robert Covington. RoCo is still one of the best 3-and-D bigs in the league when he’s clicking — or trying at least. Cov would take defensive pressure off of Sabonis, while leaving the paint untouched for the Lithuanian to work his magic.
They grab another 3-and-D wing in Tony Snell, giving them the flexibility to trade one of their many useful wings in a later move.
Greg Brown III and the two second-rounders offer them some fliers to help them continue building towards the future.
It may take swapping Tony Snell for Nassir Little to get this deal done. It would hurt, but you have to be willing to do it to land a true enforcer on the inside — though I would much prefer to re-negotiate the protections on the first-rounder sent to Chicago, and including an additional first-rounder to send to Indy over having to trade Little.