There are a few options the Portland Trail Blazers will have this offseason when it comes to taking one step closer to becoming a playoff contender again. But perhaps the most intriguing approach they could take would be to attempt to pull off a heist with the Los Angeles Lakers. LA needs a center, and Portland may be able to get a lot back in a potential deal.
Often, considering the needs of the teams around you can be one of the best approaches when it comes to maximizing your current assets. Do you have a rival with an extremely desperate need? You may have a reasonable shot at getting more back than usual simply due to that team's desperation.
Just look at how the Lakers performed in the playoffs. They got ousted right away by the Minnesota Timberwolves due to their lack of size on the interior. Jaxson Hayes is simply not a viable starting center option for a team with legitimate championship expectations. Rob Pelinka will undoubtedly be looking for alternative options this summer, and the Trail Blazers must take advantage.
Portland should try to get LA to overpay for one of their centers
Of course, Portland has more centers than they're able to actually play. Between Deandre Ayton, Donovan Clingan, Duop Reath and Robert Williams III, the Blazers have an abundance of options at center. Again, this is one of those situations where you have the potential to benefit massively simply because the glove fits so well for LA.
The best-case scenario would probably be the outcome where the Trail Blazers convince the Lakers to take Deandre Ayton off their hands. But honestly, Williams and Reath are highly tradable as well. Being able to move any one of these guys would be a win, but getting the Lakers to take back more than one would be a total slam dunk.
Portland's leverage in this situation is what gives them such potential to come away from this scenario with a big win. The Lakers already tried trading with the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams at the trade deadline, and we all know how that went down. There's no guarantee that LA has a ton of better options this summer.
As such, the Blazers could be in a position to totally fleece the Lakers. If they can get LA's first round pick and a talented young player like Dalton Knecht back, that would be an excellent outcome. If they can somehow come away with even more than that, we'd be starting to talk about dream scenarios. Either way, this is a massive opportunity for Portland.