The Portland Trail Blazers finally landed an All-Star to guide their rebuild in Deni Avdija. But now that he's an All-Star, wouldn't it be the best opportunity to sell high if they wanted?
Portland certainly shouldn't trade Avdija just for the sake of it, but it's a discussion worth having heading into an offseason where it feels like anything should be on the table. Virtually nobody is untouchable in today's NBA, and Avdija shouldn't be an exception.
Blazers shouldn't make Deni Avdija untouchable this summer
He's 25 years old and owed just a total of $24 million over the next two seasons, making it arguably the most team-friendly contract in the NBA. That makes Portland's trade with the Washington Wizards an absolute steal, as they only surrendered two first-round picks for a young, cheap, All-Star. That combination is almost unheard of.
But at the same time, Portland hasn't done a great job of leveraging that contract. Instead of upgrading the roster to contention status, they're currently in no-man's land at .500 with overpaid veterans Jrue Holiday and Jerami Grant making a combined $64.4 million this season.
Hopefully, Portland can find a way to surround Deni with more talent this offseason under new owner Tom Dundon. Damian Lillard's return next season should also help. But if they want to be considered legitimate contenders, this team can't have Avdija as the 1a option.
Deni Avdija gives the Blazers a reset button
That's the same predicament Washington faced, which is why they decided to move on from Avdija to push back their rebuilding timeline, citing the "age curve" as a reason behind the trade. Now, Washington feels as though they have enough of a young core to compete, surrounding them with stars Anthony Davis and Trae Young at the deadline.
For Portland, the issue is that their young core hasn't shown enough to be confident they'll be contenders going forward. Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson were expected to be the faces of this rebuild as top ten draft investments, but neither guard has yet to put it all together consistently. That's part of the reason they took the draft gamble on Yang Hansen, overlooking the positional fit, because they knew they still needed to add pieces to this core.
Having Avdija around only complicates that issue, as Portland is now too good to fully bottom out for a top pick and another shot in the draft. They won't even have their pick this summer in a stacked draft class if they make the postseason.
Trading Avdija shouldn't be a priority, let alone something the Blazers actively explore. But it shouldn't be entirely off-limits either. Should Portland decide they don't like the direction this rebuild is headed, Avdija would present them with a reset button. They'd reset their timeline similar to what Washington did, only this time, actually sell high on him.