The Portland Trail Blazers are still dealing with the fallout from a trade mistake they made in 2021. Portland was part of a three-team deal with the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers that landed them Larry Nance Jr. Here were the details of that trade:
Trail Blazers received: Larry Nance Jr.
Bulls received: Derrick Jones Jr., protected first-round pick (via POR), protected 2023 second-round pick (via DEN)
Cavaliers received: Lauri Markkanen
Blazers' win-now aspirations make the Nance trade even worse
The headliner in this deal is All-Star Lauri Markkanen, who has been going on an absolute tear in Eurobasket play. But thanks to the surprising offseason Portland just had, the second most valuable asset in this three-team trade is the protected first-rounder they sent to Chicago.
That pick is lottery-protected through 2027. It would convert to a second-round pick in 2028 if it doesn't convey by then. By upgrading their roster through win-now moves, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin puzzlingly increased the odds that the Blazers will be sending the Bulls a first-round pick, making the overall trade look even worse from Portland's standpoint.
Cronin has said that "it's winning time" in Portland, which was apparent following his trade for Jrue Holiday. The Blazers have an ascending young core that played a key role in their 15-win improvement from last season. Down the stretch, they were even responsible for their push for a spot in the play-in tournament, which ultimately came up just short.
Portland's trades for building blocks Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara were absolute steals. The one downside was that they were such good players that the Blazers could no longer tank, even if they tried.
However, that doesn't mean you need to swing the pendulum so far in the other direction with aggresive win-now trades for a declining star on a substantial deal. These are the type of moves that limit a team's ceiling and risk long-term purgatory, especially under the new CBA, where teams must be more selective about the contracts they hand out.
On top of that, Portland still has this lottery-protected first-round pick hanging over its head. One of the advantages the Blazers have over other teams in the league is assistant general manager Mike Schmitz, who was previously a draft analyst at ESPN. He has been scouting Yang Hansen for years and was a massive part of that unconventional (genius?) selection, trading back to pick No. 16 in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Given the Blazers' situation as a young team in the loaded Western Conference coming off a season in which 36 wins exceeded expectations, it doesn't make sense to try to get back to the playoffs this soon unless you have a clear star to help lead you through it. Avdija has been great, but he isn't that missing 1a piece they still lack.
Perhaps the new ownership looming played a role in Cronin's desire to make such an aggresive trade for Holiday, or maybe he's just overconfident about how good this young core really is after the (flukey) second half of last season.
But whatever the real reason behind these offseason moves is, the Blazers are adamant about ending a four-year playoff drought. And that impatience could come back to bite them in more ways than one.