The Portland Trail Blazers are hardly a bad team. They have a dynamic backcourt in the form of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, a bruising center in Jusuf Nurkic and some decent depth overall.
However, in the Western Conference, just “decent” is not a enough, as there is this team called the Golden State Warriors that has held the West by the throat for the last five years.
The Blazers are hardly a threat to the Warriors as currently constructed, and while they would need to do something like add Anthony Davis in order to truly put a scare into Golden State, there are some moves they can make to at least better their chances.
Here are three trades Portland can make to increase its chances against the Warriors machine:
Blazers send Maurice Harkless, Meyers Leonard, Seth Curry and 1st-round draft pick to Wizards for Otto Porter Jr.
The Wizards are in a situation now where they are going to want to shed some money, and even if Porter is young and just signed a long-term deal with the club recently, getting rid of his deal would be big for them.
Leonard and Harkless each have just one year left on their deals after this year, and Curry represents a throw-in as someone who can potentially provide Washington with a good shooter off the bench.
In acquiring Porter, the Blazers would add another long, versatile wing alongside of Al-Farouq Aminu, giving them multiple options to defend Kevin Durant and providing them with another decent perimeter shooter.
Porter isn't fantastic and has actually been fairly disappointing this year, but he is better than most of what Portland has and would certainly make the team better.
The only sticking point could be the fact that Porter is making over $25 million in each of the next two years and has a $28 million player option for 2021, so the Blazers would be saddled with one heck of a contract.
Blazers send Meyers Leonard, Anfernee Simons, Seth Curry and 2nd-round draft pick to Magic for Evan Fournier
Evan Fournier is only 26 years old and is a solid scorer, but he has probably peaked and has two years remaining on his deal (the second year being a player option) after this season.
Given the fact that the Magic are in no position to contend and likely aren't going to hold on to Fournier much longer, why not trade him for some decent value now?
Simons was Portland's first-round draft pick this past summer and would provide Orlando with some young backcourt depth, which it desperately needs.
Leonard wouldn't serve much of a purpose outside of salary filler given the Magic's crowded frontcourt situation, but if Orlando ends up trading Nikola Vucevic, Leonard might see some playing time.
Curry is also just a throw-in to match salaries.
Fournier would provide the Blazers with another shooter alongside of Lillard and McCollum, and while he isn't known for his defense, he is long enough (6-foot-7) to guard multiple positions.
Portland could also really use another scorer on the wing, and Fournier would definitely help in that regard.
Blazers send Meyers Leonard, Anfernee Simons and Seth Curry to Mavericks for Wesley Matthews
Wesley Matthews is certainly not the same player he was during his original stint with the the Blazers, as a torn Achilles has taken quite a bit of shine off of him.
However, he is still a good perimeter shooter and someone who can defend multiple positions. Also, he has just one year left on his deal, so, at worst, Portland would open up some cap room over the summer with this deal.
As for the Mavericks, they would add some much-needed center depth behind DeAndre Jordan in Leonard and get a solid young prospect for its backcourt in Simons. Curry, as usual, is just an addition to match salaries.
Back when Matthews was a Blazer, McCollum hadn't quite broken through yet, so we didn't get much time to see a trio of Matthews, McCollum and Lillard.
With this trade, we would get the opportunity to see those three in action together, and it would actually be a nice little lineup.
Matthews would not put the Blazers over the top, but his toughness and versatility would make them better.
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