The Portland Trail Blazers could stand to upgrade a few different spots before the NBA’s Feb. 9 trade deadline if they hope to make a playoff push. Perhaps the most important among them is adding some size to a team that features only Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks as true big men.
Nurkic is limited because of his lack of speed and athleticism (and sometimes effort), and head coach Chauncey Billups has seemingly found something the past few games with small-ball lineups featuring Nurkic on the bench.
Eubanks isn’t the answer either, and in Portland’s win over Memphis on Feb. 1, it was 6-foot-8 Trendon Watford playing nominal center when Drew sat.
The Blazers appear hesitant, at least so far, to make a game-changing move such as sending out Shaedon Sharpe or Jerami Grant in the hopes of landing someone like Myles Turner. Even if that’s the case, though, there are smaller trades to be made that would still upgrade Portland’s big man rotation – especially if Billups is going to stick with this so-far-successful small-ball squad.
The Blazers bring a popular name to Rip City
Portland fans have been clamoring for Vanderbilt. He’s long, athletic, versatile, switchable on defense and brings a ton of energy. Being able to use him in the aforementioned small-ball lineups would be a huge advantage over Eubanks or Watford.
Utah wants the equivalent of a first-round pick for Vanderbilt. Whether the Jazz able to get that is a question, but perhaps this trade would come close to what Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik will be looking for.
Rather than a first-round pick, Utah gets two second-rounders. They also add Winslow’s $4 million expiring contract, and putting Brown in the deal keeps Portland below the luxury tax line.
Depending on how intense the bidding war gets for Vanderbilt as the deadline inches closer, the Blazers may have to up the ante with another pick or young player. (The Atlanta pick is top-55 protected.)
But Winslow hasn’t played since the day after Christmas and Brown has appeared in 15 games all year.
For the Blazers, this is essentially two second-round picks, maybe a bit more if the race for Vanderbilt heats up. But it would be a win for general manager Joe Cronin.
Reid has played well when he’s had his opportunities without Rudy Gobert or Karl-Anthony Towns in the lineup. He’s averaging 10.4 points and 4.9 rebounds and has shown to be a decent floor spacer (34 percent from three for his career) and rim protector (1.0 blocks per game for his career).
Towns has been out since November with a calf strain and is expected to return after the All-Star break, and Gobert’s limitations in certain situations has been well documented at this point. Reid has been an important fill-in for both of them up front.
But the 23-year-old is an unrestricted free agent after the season. With the amount of money and draft capital Minnesota has invested in their two centers, there’s almost a zero percent chance they shell out to keep Reid.
In this instance, they get a little bit of the opposite and save $4 million by letting Winslow go after the year. They also get a valuable second-round pick – if it belongs to Charlotte, expect it to be near the top of the second round. If it doesn’t, the Timberwolves get their own pick back.
Or, if they don’t move the 6-foot-9 big man, they get nothing.
Reid would be an upgrade over Eubanks in almost every possible way and his presence would allow the Blazers to keep size and offense on the floor when he or Nurkic (or Watford, apparently) are on the bench.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks released his Western Conference trade deadline primer, and in his “trades we’d like to see” paragraph, he included a deal that would send Hart to the Pacers for McConnell and Duarte. In this scenario, that trade gets expanded to give the Blazers some more size.
That Charlotte/Minnesota second-rounder comes into play again, and Indiana gets the chance to develop a young point guard behind Tyrese Haliburton while bringing back Eubanks to fill the forward void.
Smith is a 6-10 floor spacer who shot 37 percent from three when he arrived in Indiana from Phoenix last season. That percentage has dropped this year, but the former Maryland Terrapin is still scoring almost 10 ppg and adding 5.8 rebounds.
The Pacers have Isaiah Jackson and Smith currently spelling Myles Turner, and Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle has been playing one or the other depending on matchups. Having Eubanks allows him to continue that trend.
Smith is the more offensive-minded player, while Jackson is a Vanderbilt-lite of sorts with his athleticism and defensive ability. In reality, Portland couldn’t go wrong with either, but Smith wins out here because of the offense he would provide the Blazers.