per Woj, Clippers / Blazers trade

[BruceBanner18]

Adding more shooters around their two All Star wings is a good idea. We should follow suit.

[liam]

Adding more shooters around their two All Star wings is a good idea. We should follow suit.

 

[Vermont Green]

I guess this is about getting out from under Powell's contract for Portland.  He has this year plus 4 / $73M more after this season.  I never thought he was all that good.  Bledsoe is not guaranteed for next season so he is essentially expiring.  It cost them Covington to get out from Powell.

This may mean that they plan to keep McCollum and Lillard.  I think this gets them under the tax cap this year and Bledsoe would come off next.  I can see this from Portland's perspective.  This is a good season for them to reset the tax clock.

Not sure where Powell plays when Kahwi comes back.  He may come off the bench.

That's next season's problem, but I think they can have Powell, George, and Kawhi in the 2-4 spots.  Certainly that lineup will be featured, if it isn't the starting lineup.

They play/start Marcus Morris as the Swing/PF a lot with Zubac at C.  There are plenty of minutes for Powell even if he doesn't start.  Powell + Covington is a definite talent upgrade for them over Bledsoe + whatever.  They should be very good when Kawhi is back.  Not the end of the world to have a "microwave" type player to come off your bench.

[Goldstar88]

G: R.Jackson
G: N.Powell, Terrence Mann,
F: P.George, Covington, Batum
F: Kawhi, Marcus Morris, Kennard
C: Zubac, Ibaka

Their C rotation and PG spot suck.

But their wing depth is sensational. Two star wings in PG13 and Kawhi. Covington is a starter level player. Marcus Morris is a borderline starter. As is Batum. Kennard a solid bench player. That is ridiculous depth.

And it's not like they can just play some SFs at SG because they got Norman Powell and Terrence Mann there who are good players as well.

Clippers need to make some follow up moves to balance out there team. Hopefully get a big man or a PG.

Ibaka and Zubac is not a bad rotation for C. Not great, but decent enough.

[mobilija]

Adding more shooters around their two All Star wings is a good idea. We should follow suit.

Right! We shoulda done this deal!

What's the equivalent of what we woulda given up to help Blazers duck tax?

[RJ87]

Adding more shooters around their two All Star wings is a good idea. We should follow suit.

Right! We shoulda done this deal!

What's the equivalent of what we woulda given up to help Blazers duck tax?

That's the thing, the Celtics want to duck the tax too.

[celticsclay]

I wonder if this is a sign that Portland is ready to make real moves and blow up the core? Because they didn't really get anything of value back. Bledsoe is sporadic at best, Keon is project, idk what Winslow is anymore, and the future 2nd will be mid to late in the round.

This isn't a move a GM would make if they're trying to win this season or next.

This is definitely a punting on the season move, the Blazers are number 10 in the play in, and making the playoffs is certainly not a novelty for them (I also think they would be unlikely to beat the clippers or lakers in the play in game). However, what's funny is I don't think any team really wants to make the 10th spot of the teams that are below them (except maybe Sacramento but they are really far back and just flat out stink). So one of these teams will make the playin game: New Orleans, San Antonio, what is left of Portland's roster, Sacramento, Houston, OKC. Let the tank off begin.

[Moranis]

Portland got out of the tax, I don't think this means McCollum or Lillard are going to be traded, though if they get blown away, they probably would. 

[Celtics2021]

I wonder if this is a sign that Portland is ready to make real moves and blow up the core? Because they didn't really get anything of value back. Bledsoe is sporadic at best, Keon is project, idk what Winslow is anymore, and the future 2nd will be mid to late in the round.

This isn't a move a GM would make if they're trying to win this season or next.

This is definitely a punting on the season move, the Blazers are number 10 in the play in, and making the playoffs is certainly not a novelty for them (I also think they would be unlikely to beat the clippers or lakers in the play in game). However, what's funny is I don't think any team really wants to make the 10th spot of the teams that are below them (except maybe Sacramento but they are really far back and just flat out stink). So one of these teams will make the playin game: New Orleans, San Antonio, what is left of Portland's roster, Sacramento, Houston, OKC. Let the tank off begin.

Sacramento's quest to make the play-in sets them up to be fleeced so badly.  Lucky is the team who takes advantage of them.

[footey]

Clippers have no incentive to tank, they want to finish as high in the standings as possible since they don't own their draft pick. And luxury tax not an issue for Balmer.

[Birdman]

Clippers just got a ton better. They are becoming a very clever franchise.

Jerry West..nuff said

[Celtics4ever]

Adding more shooters around their two All Star wings is a good idea. We should follow suit.

That requires assets to get those, we sorely lack them

[colincb]

Bobby Marks at ESPN+ :

Portland: B-

For a brief stretch, it looked like the Blazers might play well enough to make bringing Lillard back for a playoff push reasonable. They won six out of nine games between Jan. 9 and Jan. 23, getting strong contributions from Simons, Covington and Little. Notably, that stretch didn't include Powell, who missed five of those games in the NBA's health and safety protocols and four because of personal reasons.

Powell's return coincided with Little's season-ending injury, putting him back in the lineup at small forward. As well as Portland played defensively last season after adding Powell to the starting five, that didn't carry over this season, when the lack of size with a trio of perimeter players 6-foot-3 and under was difficult to overcome. Without Little, the Blazers have struggled too badly to imagine even Lillard's return could lift them any further than a brief first-round exit.

As a result, trading Covington was a fairly easy call for Portland. With an expiring contract, he held value to contenders, albeit not nearly as much as when the Blazers gave up a pair of first-round picks to get him with two full seasons left on his contract in November 2020. The more interesting elements of this trade from Portland's perspective are moving on from Powell and getting a recent first-round pick (Johnson) rather than a future one.
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In Powell's case, I think this is mostly a mulligan on the five-year deal the Blazers handed him last summer as an unrestricted free agent. With Simons possibly headed for a payday in restricted free agency and Lillard and CJ McCollum already on huge contracts, Portland was looking at potentially paying four perimeter players $15 million-plus per season -- untenable for a noncontender in a low-revenue market, even one backed with the financial resources of Paul Allen's estate.

This deal gets the Blazers safely below this season's luxury tax. It also saves at least $6 million next season, the difference between what Bledsoe, Johnson and Winslow are guaranteed and Powell's 2022-23 salary. Portland should be able to re-sign Simons and use the non-taxpayer midlevel exception while staying out of the tax next season.

For this trade to be a win for the Blazers, Johnson needs to develop into a contributor. A five-star recruit, Johnson was underwhelming in his one season at Tennessee, making 27% of his limited 3-point attempts and rarely managing to translate his physical skills into production. The Clippers still took him 21st overall, but Johnson has been surpassed in their rookie pecking order by second-round pick Brandon Boston Jr.

There's recent experience developing this kind of player in Portland, as a similar outline applies to Little's one season at North Carolina. The Blazers picked him based on tools and have quickly developed him into a key contributor. If they can do the same with Johnson, they'll come out ahead on this deal. If not, they might regret not landing a better draft pick than a second-rounder in 2025.

LAC got an A-.

There was no deal that I saw that would have made much sense for the Cs AND POR.

POR had too much money tied up in its backcourt with Afernee Simons going into RFA this summer after a breakout season and our logical trade assets are all guards (MS, DS, and JR). Also, a trade of Smart for Powell leaves you without a PG. Lastly, Covington is not much of a player at this point in his career and has been one of the lowest usage guys in the NBA given the minutes he plays since 2019-2020 for a reason.

[PAOBoston]

What a great trade for the Clippers