If the Portland Trail Blazers trade their expiring contracts and high-risk young prospects for win-now players that fit the timeline of their newly developed core, they will not regret it.
Last season, the Blazers found out who their best players were. Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija emerged as the wing duo of the future in the Pacific Northwest. Not only did the two of them both receive Most Improved Player votes, but they each appeared in the Ringer’s Top-100 player rankings; Avdija at No. 61 and Camara at No. 95.
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the winner of the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award.
The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zsUjvLi8f8
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 30, 2025
But what makes the two of them even better building blocks is that they’re both inexpensive. Avdija is on a declining contract that will only cost the Blazers $13 million a year for the next three years. As a late second-round pick, Camara only costs $2.2 million next season. He’s eligible for an extension this summer, and even if the Blazers offered him the longest contract with the most money possible, because he’s coming off such a small deal, they would only be paying him $89 million over four years ($22.25 AAV) starting in 2026.
So when a team’s two best players, plus a bona fide defensive anchor in Clingan, are locked up for cheap, it makes all the sense in the world for them to push the chips they have into the pot and get aggressive.
The Blazers shouldn’t be tied down to waiting around for Shaedon Sharpe, Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson to figure themselves out. They should make the decisions for themselves and let other teams gamble on their upside.
So, here are three mock trades that, individually or collectively, accelerate the Blazers from a slow-moving team into a competitor tomorrow.
Blazers Trade 1: Tap Out of the Sharpe Sweepstakes
Blazers get: Trey Murphy III
Pelicans get: Shaedon Sharpe, Robert Williams III, POR 2031 Round 1 Pick
Shaedon Sharpe’s ceiling is immense. Just watch his dunk package if you disagree.
SHAEDON SHARPE DUNK OF THE YEAR?! 🤯🤯🤯
WOW ‼️ pic.twitter.com/omxJooiPKo
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 27, 2025
He’s also full of defensive limitations, and fans have questioned his mentality throughout his young career.
Trey Murphy took full advantage of a depleted New Orleans rotation to put together his by far highest scoring season last year. Although his efficiency numbers took a bit of a dive, he still proved his two-way talents and validated his contract extension before he was sidelined himself.
New Orleans could cash in on Murphy’s stellar season and buy a three-year younger, potential star in Sharpe. With Dejounte Murray unavailable for most of next year and a ginormous question mark looming over the status of Zion Williamson, the Pelicans are in no rush to win at the moment.
Swapping Murphy for Sharpe would recalibrate their timeline towards Shaedon and whoever they draft at No. 8. They would add a first-round pick down the line, and could take a gamble on Robert Williams becoming healthy. Maybe a cursed-by-injury player would actually stay healthy on a cursed-by-injury team. He could be a perfect backup to Yves Missi.
If the Pelicans needed more assets in order to get this trade over the finish line, Portland should be willing to fess them up. They should push pretty hard to get Trey Murphy in the door given the contract he is on, and there should be a price New Orleans is willing to accept.
For Portland, Murphy slides in next to Camara and Avdija to make a defensively ferocious, versatile three-wing starting lineup that has enough shooting and playmaking to warrant its size. Murphy is under contract for the next four seasons and is the same age as his new aforementioned teammates, making him a perfect fit to grow alongside them.
Removing Sharpe also settles a lot of the backcourt problems the Blazers have been dealing with. But there are more moves to be made to further alleviate those issues.
Trade 2: Give Scoot the Keys
Blazers get: Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George, Kyle Filipowski, Pick No. 21
Jazz get: Anfernee Simons, Pick No. 11
Realistically, the Blazers could just make the first trade and go into next season with Simons as the starting point guard and Scoot as the backup. If, though, they want to give Scoot his season to prove himself and simplify the rotations, they could dish Anfernee out.
The Jazz are done tanking. Their owner, Ryan Smith, said it. Their new President of Basketball Operations, Austin Ainge, said it. Utah wants to turn the corner.
Austin Ainge is now by default my favorite member of the Jazz front office organization 🎤 💥
— Brendan Taz Cannon (@jazzwithtaz) June 2, 2025
The Jazz could find an immediate guard upgrade by consolidating Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George and Kyle Filipowski into Anfernee Simons. Simons would mesh well timeline-wise with Lauri Markkanen. Utah has the cap space to extend him right away if they believe in him as a long-term player, or he would just become more expiring money if the experiment fails.
At the very least, investing in Simons would at least signal to the fans that the tanking is over. The Jazz could market Anfernee as a new, potentially dangerous partner alongside Markkanen, get fans in the door, and, realistically, still end up bad enough to stay in the lottery all at the same time.
Utah could also likely goad Portland into swapping picks in this upcoming draft between No. 11 and No. 21, depending on each team’s feelings about the young pieces involved.
The prize of this trade for Portland would be Filipowski, who showed plenty of promise this past year for Utah. He would slide in as the long-term backup center to Clingan; Portland would benefit by having a rim-protecting big and a stretch big for matchup purposes.
Keyonte George would slide right in as Scoot’s backup. The young project scored plenty of points last season, but with terrible efficiency. He and Clarkson together would get opportunities off the bench to create for themselves, insulated by the defensive prowess of Portland’s wings (Matisse Thybulle and Jerami Grant included).
Say, though, that Portland pushes their whole stack of chips in right now. Scoot showed some upside this season and has a decent chance to put it all together next year, but even if he drastically improves, it still might not be enough to keep up with the rest of this roster. Furthermore, Deandre Ayton still remains, and Portland would relish the opportunity to let Clingan and Filipowski take full control of the center rotation.
That’s where the blockbuster trade comes in.
Trade 3: Pivot Entirely
Blazers get: LaMelo Ball, Jusuf Nurkic
Hornets get: Scoot Henderson, Deandre Ayton, No. 21 Pick*, 2028 Bucks Swap, 2030 Bucks Swap
*The image above shows the No. 11 pick, but for the sake of this story, assume Portland is moving the pick they just got from Utah*
This final trade would allow LaMelo Ball to run point for Portland. He would have plenty of defensive insulation in the starting lineup with Murphy, Avdija and Camara. He’d have Clingan as an exceptional screener and, ideally much improved, rolling big man. Ball’s shooting and gravity would also really help space the floor for Avdija to operate in driving lanes, and the two would pair beautifully as transition threats.
At 24 years old, Ball also fits the timeline of the rest of the starting lineup perfectly.
Charlotte swaps Nurkic’s expiring contract for a better player and even more expiring money in Ayton, who, as a one-year rental, could help make sure Charlotte is never lacking in decent center minutes, given Mark Williams’ health concerns. Portland would welcome Nurkic back as a feel-good story for a season of reminiscing.
The Hornets could hand the keys to Scoot on day one, pairing him with fellow 2023 draft pick Brandon Miller and basing their No. 4 and newly acquired No. 21 draft selections around those two. Ball is an exceptional, All-Star-level player, but he’s often injured and expensive. Trading him would mitigate a lot of risk, and Charlotte could use some stability.
Throwing in both of the Bucks’ swaps down the line, which may even be a little too rich, as incentives would hopefully be enough to push this deal to the finish line. Portland would still hold onto the best and worst of Boston, Milwaukee and their own 2029 first-round picks, plus a few more of their own.
Here’s how Portland’s depth chart would shake out after all three trades:
This new roster is not only balanced and deep, but it maintains a ton of flexibility. Avdija, Ball and Murphy are all already under contract for at least the next three seasons. Plus, they have expiring contracts in Nurkic, Clarkson and Thybulle, which would feed into extensions for Camara and whichever of Clingan, Filipowski and George work out. Even at the current moment, all three of those trades together actually save the Blazers $11 million in cap space for next season. They could hit the free agent market.
The Blazers could take the three young guards they’ve heavily invested in and theoretically dish all of them out to weaker teams looking to capitalize on their upsides, all of which would add some of the Blazers’ assets in the process.
Time is precious. Toumani and Deni are ready. It’s time for Portland to strike.
Leave a comment