Grade the mock trade: East upstart pries Simons away from Blazers in massive shakeup
Would this package be enough to get Portland to part with its star guard?
The NBA's Feb. 8 trade deadline is sneaking up on us. Speculation will only ramp up over the next four-and-a-half weeks. For the Portland Trail Blazers, that begs only one question: Will they be sellers with the goal of collecting more future assets?
The Blazers are in phase one of a franchise rebuild. Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, at 19- and 20-years-old, respectively, are the youngest, cheapest and highest-upside assets Portland has, along with a stable of future draft picks.
Does that mean general manager Joe Cronin will be willing to part with veterans such as Jerami Grant and Malcolm Brogdon, who have been crucial to this year's team - but a team that's still sputtered to a 9-24 record?
Or could Cronin shock the league and deal perhaps his team's best player to drag the franchise further backward in the short term to add even more assets for the long term?
Could the Trail Blazers trade Anfernee Simons to the Orlando Magic?
Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley put together a piece listing every NBA team's top three trade targets. At No. 1 on the Orlando Magic's list - a Magic team only one game back of a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference as of Jan. 5 - lies Portland guard Anfernee Simons.
Simons seems untouchable from a Blazers perspective, so what would Orlando have to give up to land a much-needed scorer who fits perfectly with its current core?