In 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers shipped Josh Hart to the New York Knicks in exchange for Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, Svi Mykhailiuk, and a protected 2023 first-round pick. That draft pick turned into Iowa product Kris Murray, who was the No. 23 overall selection.
It was a bold bet on the untapped potential of Reddish, a former No. 10 overall pick out of Duke, and the future first-round selection that turned into Murray. Unfortunately for Portland, the idea of the trade was far better than the actual thing.
Reddish bounced around the league as several teams believed they could fix him, but that was never the case. Meanwhile, Murray was viewed as one of the more NBA-ready prospects in the 2023 draft class, yet he has not made a meaningful impact in Portland.
More concerningly, he's yet to show progress three years into the league, particularly on the offensive end. Murray finished the season averaging 5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 23.4 minutes per game. So it's not like the Blazers haven't given him the chance. He simply hasn't produced.
The most prevalent example of that is Murray's three-point efficiency, as someone who has failed to reach 30 percent from beyond the arc in all three seasons. He's failed to show progress on the offensive end, and it's reasonable to say that Portland got no meaningful assets out of this deal.
Blazers didn't get enough for trading Josh Hart
To make matters worse, Hart has been absolutely thriving with the Knicks. While we're happy for his success (and his feel-good reunion with fellow Villanova Wildcats), we can't help but wonder if Portland didn't maximize its return.
He was likely going to leave Portland anyway, so it's good that they got anything in return instead of potentially letting him walk in free agency for nothing. But Portland still essentially got nothing, while Hart continues to prove to New York that it was an absolute fleece of a trade.
There's perhaps no better example of Hart's impact with the Knicks than their thrilling 105-95 Game 1 win in the Finals over the San Antonio Spurs. Hart played 27 minutes, finishing with three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field, missing all three of his attempts from beyond the arc. With just about any other player in the league, you'd immediately jump to the conclusion that the Knicks won despite Hart's choke in the Finals. That couldn't be further from the case, as he recorded 15 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals, finishing with a game-high +22.
This was just the latest, but most prevalent example of Hart impacting winning without needing to score. In today's NBA, that makes him the elite role player that every contender needs.
Ultimately, the Blazers timeline and Hart's likelihood of walking in free agency justify a trade. But his recent Finals performance highlights just how bad a return this truly was for Portland.
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