Portland remains in the eye of a trade machine storm.
The Portland Trail Blazers continue as one of the most-mentioned teams in pre-draft NBA trade talk. The #3 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the potential availability of starters Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic, plus a stated mandate to build a contender around All-NBA guard Damian Lillard have combined to put Portland on the lips of every analyst and trade-machine jockey out there.
Today two more interesting suggestions came out from national writers. The first was a trade fragment from Rafael Barlowe of NBA Big Board [subscription required]. He suggests that the Indiana Pacers are quite interested in potential Top 3 pick Brandon Miller and would be amenable to working out a deal with the Blazers or the Charlotte Hornets (owners of the second overall pick). That’s not a trade, nor even a trade rumor, but it does bring up another potential partner for Portland. The Pacers have the seventh pick in the upcoming draft. Would they be able to offer anything alongside to entice Portland into swapping spots?
The second suggestion came from Eric Koreen, Toronto Raptors expert for The Athletic [subscription required]. Today he tiptoed gently into the idea that the Raptors may need to move on from franchise cornerstone Pascal Siakam. He offered the following three-way deal to get the job done:
Incoming to Blazers: Pascal Siakam, 13th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft
Incoming to Raptors: 3rd Pick in the 2023 NBA Draft (presumed to be Scoot Henderson), protected 2026 first-round pick from Portland, Nassir Little. Luke Kennard, Tyus Jones
Incoming to Grizzlies: Anfernee Simons
In aggregate, the Blazers would trade Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Pick #3, and a future protected first-rounder for Pascal Siakam and Pick #13.
Would that be enough to get you to bite? Share below.
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