The Portland Trail Blazers were one of the most talked-about teams leading up to the 2023 NBA trade deadline. How far would general manager Joe Cronin go to add pieces around Damian Lillard and make a playoff push? Or would his moves reveal a plan to kickstart a rebuild?
Despite some relatively massive rumors - acquiring one of Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors, for instance - and some smaller ones, like dealing for Utah's Jarred Vanderbilt, Cronin ended up tip-toeing the line.
The Blazers sent out veterans Josh Hart and Gary Payton II and brought back Matisse Thybulle, Cam Reddish and Kevin Knox along with a Knicks' first-round pick that ended up becoming Kris Murray. The team got younger, but not dramatically better or worse.
Which Portland Trail Blazers are most likely to be dealt at this year's mid-season trade deadline?
After an offseason that saw more massive rumors actually come to fruition, Portland is set up with a roster full of youth and potential. There aren't any clear moves the Blazers need to make this year, but that doesn't mean it'll be crickets this February.
Here are the Trail Blazers who could be moved at this year's trade deadline, ranked from least likely to most likely.
Shaedon Sharpe
Shaedon Sharpe is the most untouchable player on the Portland Trail Blazers roster. He's shown wild levels of growth over a short span.
Sharpe played no competitive basketball between high school and the NBA. He was drafted with the No. 7 pick in 2022 based solely on high school tape, the pre-draft process and projection.
He played in 80 NBA games as a 19-year-old. He averaged fewer than 10 points per game, but he lucked into a chance to play as the No. 1 scoring option on a tanking team at the end of the year and averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, shooting 38 percent from three on more than 8 attempts.
He carried that momentum into this season where he's been one of Portland's best players and one of the league's best sophomores. He's exponentially better than he was as a rookie and is only 106 games into his NBA career. He's untouchable as it gets.
Scoot Henderson
Scoot Henderson hasn't been the potential Rookie of the Year candidate fans hoped for coming into the season, but since returning from an ankle injury and a rough start, has been a much-improved player.
Scoot has found an ideal role off the bench and has averages of 13.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in December. He's cut his turnovers way down and is collecting fewer fouls. His shooting efficiency isn't great, but he started the year shooting 35 percent from the floor and 0.95 percent from three.
In his last six games, he's shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from three.
A 19-year-old playing the league's most difficult position is going to have a steep learning curve, but Henderson is already showing signs of improvement. And no team is going to trade a player it picked third overall less than three months into the season.
Toumani Camara
It's impossible to know until all the picks are conveyed, but Toumani Camara looks like the most valuable piece of the Lillard trade. The 52nd pick in last June's draft has carved out a starting role in the first quarter of his rookie season, replacing a five-year pro and one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA in Matisse Thybulle.
Camara's stats won't wow anyone - 7.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists per game with 42/30/67 shooting splits - but he impacts the game with effort, intelligence and the savvy of a more seasoned player. The fact that he's under team control for three more years and is only owed $2.4 million in 2026-27 makes him even more valuable.
Anfernee Simons
As the Blazers' No. 1 offensive option, Anfernee Simons is more valuable on the floor than Camara. The 24-year-old's contract is team-friendly but still much larger than any of the three players above, and he'll be due a significant raise in 2026. Still, Simons recently returned from a six-week thumb injury and started scoring like he never left.
Since re-entering the lineup on Dec. 6, Ant is averaging 28.3 points per game - 12th-best in the league - and is hitting nearly 38 percent from three on 9.3 attempts per game.
More critically, as the Blazers' new starting point guard, he's dishing out a career-high 5.9 assists per game.
Deandre Ayton
Deandre Ayton hasn't fully hit his stride yet since arriving in Portland, but as the team's most significant return piece of the Lillard trade, he isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Head coach Chauncey Billups continues to tinker with different offensive sets and rotations as he attempts to discover how to best utilize the former No. 1 pick. Ayton's size, mobility and skill level all point to a center who should be one of the best in the league; he has yet to live up to that potential, though, in Phoenix or now with the Blazers.
The 25-year-old is still owed about $70 million through the 2025-26 season, though, so the likelihood of another team taking on that deal is slim. Portland won't be in any kind of a hurry to move on from a center that's still young and has the physical ability to become one of the best big men in the league.
Jabari Walker
Jabari Walker is in the Camara mold as a second-round pick who's surprisingly become a key piece of the Blazers' future. Despite being in his second NBA season, he's still younger than Toumani and is the offensive yin to Camara's defensive yang.
His size, sneaky strength and playmaking give Billups an option he doesn't have on his second unit right now. Walker is a good fit as a small-ball center who plays with effort and has a knack for rebounding and being in the right spot at the right time on both ends of the floor.
Ryan Rupert
Another second-round pick, Rupert hasn't gotten a chance to show off his skill set at the NBA level, but his potential as a tall, rangy three-and-D wing is tantalizing and the reason he's less likely to be traded than some bigger names on this list.
The Frenchman's best skill right now is his defense. He's 6-foot-6 but uber athletic and with a 7-3 wingspan. He plays hard, and the combination of all those traits makes him a pesky and potentially shut-down defender.
His shooting needs to come around for him to make an impact at the NBA level, but he's hitting better than 40 percent of his threes with the Rip City Remix in the G League.
Kris Murray
Presumably, Kris Murray would be less likely to be dealt than Rupert as Portland's first-round pick last June. He was projected to be a plug-and-play forward after a three-year career at Iowa, but he's had a difficult time cracking the Blazers' rotation. He was supposed to land in the NBA as a ready-made three-and-D wing, but the "three" part of that equation has yet to show itself.
Murray still needs to get stronger defensively to bang against bigger forwards, but he's shooting less than 30 percent from deep with the Remix, which is much more concerning. He lacks the upside of Rupert, who is competing with the former Hawkeye to fill the same role in Portland.
Skylar Mays
Mays has shown during two different spells that he's capable of playing as an above-average emergency point guard. In 22 games as a Blazer, he's started 11 times and has averages of 9.6 points and 5.6 assists on 35.8 percent shooting from three.
He's on a partially guaranteed deal this season with Portland, but his spot minutes should be enough to keep him on the roster as end-of-bench depth, especially considering the injuries the team has dealt with to its backcourt this year.
Moses Brown
Brown is to the center spot what Mays is to the guard position, except Mays has gotten more opportunities. The 7-foot-2 big man is a rim-deterrent and rebounder for nothing more than his size.
Brown has shown flashes of potential and is still only 24 years old, but he probably doesn't have a future in Portland. His $2.2 million partially-guaranteed contract could serve as salary filler in a trade.
Ish Wainright
Wainright was a last-minute pickup by Cronin, who grabbed the former Baylor Bear off waivers after he was released by Phoenix right before the season. He's spent most of the year injured, appearing in only three games and averaging 3.0 minutes per.
The 6-6, 250-pound forward is a deep-bench role player who's athletic enough to stick with some fours and strong enough to bang with small-ball centers. He's making $2 million this season and will be a restricted free agent next year.
Robert Williams III
Williams might have found himself in the No. 1 spot on this list if he didn't suffer a torn ligament in his right knee that required surgery that will keep him out for the rest of the season. The Blazers saw a clear fit with the athletic, defense-first rebounder and rim protector when they brought him to Portland in the Jrue Holiday trade.
When healthy, Rob Will is an all-defense caliber player. He's explosive, strong and plays hard. He would solve a lot of issues currently plaguing Billups' rotation, and his team-friendly contract would make him even more attractive as a trade asset.
Injured players can be traded, so Williams can be dealt at this year's deadline, but it's incredibly unlikely. The 26-year-old will have to rebuild his value next season, but he's young enough to be part of Portland's current core if he ends up sticking around.
Jerami Grant
While Williams' injury history keeps him from potentially topping this list, it's Grant's contract that will turn teams off once he's eligible to be traded on Jan. 15. Despite being the Trail Blazers' best player this season, the five-year, $160 million owed to the 29-year-old Grant either makes him untradeable or devalues him as an asset enough that Portland wouldn't get a fair return.
Still, the 6-7 forward is having the best year of his NBA career. He's averaging 22.3 points, which is tied for the career high he set as the primary offensive option with the Detroit Pistons in the 2020-21 season, but he's become far more efficient since then. Last year, Grant shot a career-best 40.1 percent from three - this year, he's posting 20-plus points per night on 46/42/82 shooting splits.
Matisse Thybulle
Cronin and Billups might have to make a tough decision on Thybulle as February gets closer. Still only 26, the former Sixer has developed a good enough outside stroke to be considered a legitimate three-and-D player who can guard multiple positions.
Thybulle could make his third all-defense team this season and he's hitting a career-high 39.3 percent from deep on nearly 4 attempts per game. He's shooting 80 percent from the free-throw line for the first time as well.
Throw in his recently-inked three-year, $33 million contract and Thybulle is a young and cheap option who fills the most desired role in the league.
Malcolm Brogdon
Malcolm Brogdon is hands down the most tradeable Blazer. Apart from perhaps Thybulle, he's the most attractive asset Portland has to offer a contender and, maybe more importantly, he's the player Cronin and Billups would be most willing to part with.
If he stays healthy, the veteran combo guard should find himself on the shortlist list for the league's Sixth Man of the Year Award for the second straight season. He's averaging 15.2 points and 5.7 assists on 48/38/77 splits and has served an important role for this Portland team in helping take some pressure off Henderson.
But with Scoot's recently improved play and the minutes Simons and Sharpe will get the remainder of the year, Brogdon is becoming more expendable and is reportedly worth a protected first-round pick. If any Blazer gets traded this season, it's most likely to be the 31-year-old who can provide bench production and 43 games of playoff experience to a team aiming for a championship.