When the Portland Trail Blazers acquired Trevor Ariza in a five-player swap with the Sacramento Kings on Saturday, it appeared on the surface that the team was loading up to make a late push for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. While that all still may be true, there may have been further ramifications at play, namely, a path to dealing center Hassan Whiteside and getting under the NBA's luxury tax.

Per John Hollinger of The Athletic, dealing Whiteside alongside either Mario Hezonja or Wenyen Gabriel to a team in need of a star big man would net the Blazers enough in returning expiring contracts to avoid luxury tax penalties.

One major stopping block here is that Whiteside has been excellent for Portland. He enters play on Sunday fourth in the league in rebounds (14.0) and first in blocked shots (3.0) per contest, all while shooting 59 percent from the floor with 15.5 points per contest to his credit; even with his production, the team sits three games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

It's difficult to imagine a team that reached the Western Conference Finals last season—and added to their roster—could settle for the perspective of missing out of the postseason the following year. Two of the teams directly ahead of them (Memphis and Phoenix) were woeful in 2018-19, but have made enough of a jump to make Portland show their hand. It appears that homegrown stars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are safe and sound, but that doesn't mean that they'll have Whiteside roaming the paint for them as they make a playoff push over the final three months.