Portland Trail Blazers team app as confused as the fans after recent trades

Portland Trail Blazers, Blazers app, wenyen gabriel

ATLANTA, GA – FEBRUARY 29: Wenyen Gabriel #35 of the Portland Trail Blazers rebounds during the second half of an NBA game against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on February 29, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

The Portland Trail Blazers have been the league’s busiest team heading towards the NBA trade deadline, even confusing the official team smartphone app

Portland Trail Blazers interim general manager Joe Cronin has been the busiest man in the league approaching the NBA trade deadline, making two major moves in less than a week. As of an hour before the deadline, Portland’s roster has seven new names on it, replacing the five that were sent away.

The new acquisitions also included Tomas Satoransky and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who were flipped as part of a three-way deal with the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs yesterday. All of the dealing has left us here at Rip City Project scrambling to keep up with columns and podcasts, and has Blazer fans wondering exactly what direction the franchise is trying to take.

There is an expectation that a deal for Detroit Piston Jerami Grant is in the works, and Houston’s Christian Wood is also presumably available. With the three major deals in six days and more potentially on the way, NBA fans and media members alike are feeling a little disoriented right now.

Apparently the Blazers’ official team smartphone app has fallen victim to that same confusion. This morning the app listed nine players, accurately reflecting the number available to coach Chauncey Billups against the Lakers last night.

Four of them were actually present and accounted for: Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic logged 38 and 33 minutes, respectively, and Nassir Little and Damian Lillard were there in street clothes as they recover from surgeries.

But the other five players listed – Mario Hezonja, Caleb Swanigan, Jaylen Adams, Wenyen Gabriel, and Jaylen Hoard – have all been gone from Portland since at least 2020.

The @trailblazers official team app is as confused as the rest of us after the last week: pic.twitter.com/u2X5jQh5Wo
— Joe Capraro (@joecapraro) February 10, 2022

Hezonja is playing in Russia after flaming out in his one year with the Blazers. Swanigan was a Portland first-round pick in 2017 and bounced back and forth to the G league before being traded to Sacramento.

Portland re-acquired Swaningan as part of the Trevor Ariza – Kent Bazemore deal but he opted not to play in the Orlando bubble and never returned to the team. Adams played just three games for Portland in 2020 and is now in Australia. Hoard is bouncing between the Oklahoma City Thunder and their D-league affiliate, the Blue.

Gabriel’s also came to Portland along with Ariza, but played in just 19 games in his only year with the team. His 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans just expired, so perhaps the app could be forgiven for thinking he was part of the pile of junk that came back in return for CJ McCollum.

As for the other four, only the app programming team and Joe Cronin know.