Grading the Trail Blazers’ mock proposal
The Blazers are essentially taking the lesser of two evils going from Ayton's to Wiggins' massive contract. Ayton is Portland's highest-paid player, on the books for two years and $69.6 million, while Wiggins has three years and $84.7 million remaining on his deal (with a player option in 2026-27). Payton II is on an expiring contract and could be used as a salary filler in another trade, as there are several players that the Blazers could still move after Ayton in this hypothetical.
Breaking Ayton's contract down into two players gives the Blazers more trade flexibility, which is what they need at this stage of their rebuild with a half-baked roster and more moves to be made. Due to his position and contract size, Ayton will be difficult to trade, likely more than Wiggins would be. Favale mentions that having a "Surplus of wings is much more manageable, if not outright valuable, than a big-man glut."
The vast majority of NBA teams already have an established starting center, and it makes no sense for them to explore Ayton, especially given his contract and the fact that they'd have to give up an asset in addition. The Pelicans are one of the exceptions due to their unique roster construction as a team with playoff hopes relying on a rookie center.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, it would clear the way for Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams III, and Duop Reath to get increased roles and minutes. It's only a matter of time before Clingan takes over the starting center spot. Why prolong the inevitable? If anything, Clingan's growing pains will help the Blazers lose even more games.
One argument against Clingan seeing an increased role early on is his conditioning. But with plenty of center depth between RW3 and Reath, the Blazers could still ease him into seeing heavy minutes, even if he was the starter. It would be taking a gamble on Williams' ability to stay healthy. But Reath is an excellent insurance policy as someone who is more than capable of stepping up as the backup center in a worst-case scenario.
This trade isn't all that exciting, and it seems like a lateral move in some ways, going from one bad contract to another. But it would still be a win by clearing the Blazers' center logjam and providing them more trade flexibility by splitting up the contracts.
Trail Blazers trade grade: B