The Portland Trail Blazers shipped Josh Hart to the New York Knicks in 2023. Hart has always been the definition of a glue guy and was a great addition to a Blazers roster that needed more wing depth. Still, Portland made the difficult but correct decision to move on from Hart as he was on an expiring contract.
Hart was likely to take his talents elsewhere in the summer, and the Blazers were wise to trade him at the deadline for assets while they could rather than risk letting him walk for nothing. However, the problem is that Portland essentially got nothing in return from New York.
Here was the deal in full:
Kris Murray's struggles make Blazers' Josh Hart trade looks worse
The Blazers took a gamble on former No. 10 overall pick Cam Reddish, hoping that a change of scenery would unlock some of that lottery-pick upside. That quickly backfired, as Reddish only played 20 games in Portland, averaging 11.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists on 44/32/83 shooting splits during that stretch. He landed with the Los Angeles Lakers on a minimum deal that summer, which goes to show how little value Portland received for Hart.
The one long-term piece they could potentially build on was the No. 23 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, which turned into Iowa forward Kris Murray. The idea was that Murray would serve as a replacement for Hart with his defense and versatility -- a vision that hasn't panned out to the extent Blazers fans have hoped.
In theory, Murray is a good defender with his 6-foot-8 frame, but he finished the 2024-25 season with the fifth-worst defensive rating on the team (116.4). That's problematic considering the offensive limitations that come along with his game. If he's not going to be an elite defender, it's difficult to justify playing him, especially with the Blazers now looking to accelerate their rebuild and get back to the postseason. Murray's numbers dipped in his second season, averaging 4.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists on 42/23/46 shooting splits. Even Shaquille O'Neal shot better from the charity stripe (52.7) throughout his career than that.
Unfortunately, Murray isn't a good fit for the spacing of the modern NBA. Meanwhile, Hart is coming off one of the best seasons of his career with the Knicks. Hart's success in New York and Murray's struggles in Portland only make this trade look more lopsided.