Though the Portland Trail Blazers probably won’t want to get involved in a Trae Young trade as a landing spot, they could be a very interesting third team. Portland has expiring salaries that could entice Atlanta, and some of the teams that want Young have pieces that could help the Blazers now and in the future.
Teams like the Washington Wizards, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, and LA Clippers could all want to get involved in the Young sweepstakes. And with guys like Matisse Thybulle and Robert Williams on expiring contracts, the Blazers could be built to benefit from a potential trade.
They may be in a perfect position to win the deadline with a Young trade—without even getting Young. And in most cases, a trade could solve one of the Blazers' biggest problems: Point guard play and three-point shooting.
Blazers should be a third team in a Trae Young trade
In the case of the Wizards, CJ McCollum would almost certainly be shipped to Atlanta in a trade. However, that wouldn’t be enough salary for the Wizards to match Young’s contract. Corey Kispert might have to be included.
If Portland threw Thybulle and a couple of second-rounders Atlanta’s way, perhaps they could reroute Kispert to the Blazers. He would be a great 3-and-D player to place alongside the rest of Portland’s core.
A three-team deal with the Wolves is a lot trickier, as they are an above-the-apron team. That said, if the Blazers were interested in a guy like Mike Conley or Donte DiVincenzo, perhaps there’s a world where they get involved.
Adding either of those guys could give the Blazers some much-needed help at the point guard spot. The Hawks would land Naz Reid, Thybulle, and one of DiVincenzo or Conley, while Portland would get the other (and a minimum contract player, to make the money work). Giving Atlanta a couple of seconds could make a deal happen.
The Sacramento Kings have Malik Monk, who the Hawks may not want, because he’s under contract next year as well. However, his perimeter scoring would definitely provide the Blazers with an upgrade over Thybulle or Williams. Again, though, draft capital would likely have to be involved, as is the case with all of these deals.
Lastly, the Clippers are another tough team to make a trade work with, as they have a lot of big contracts. However, if they managed to grab a guy like Kris Dunn, it would be great for their guard depth.
Some of the ideas would be more straightforward than others, but there are definitely opportunities for the Blazers to get involved as a potential third team in a Young deal at the deadline this season.