Blazers News: Likelihood Portland Makes Trade Before Season Start Revealed

Will team president Joe Cronin make another big offseason move?

Mar 13, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton (2) gives Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) a high-five during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Will Portland Trail Blazers team president Joe Cronin make another big offseason move? He ditched three of his team's four picks in June's 2024 NBA Draft in various deals, preserving only the No. 7 selection, which he used on two-time University of Connecticut Huskies NCAA champion center Donovan Clingan.

Cronin's biggest trade was his decision to offload the expiring $22.5 million contract of 2023 Sixth Man of the Year point guard Malcolm Brogdon, 32, to the Washington Wizards in return for the far-young projected starting small forward Deni Avdija, 23. Where Cronin surely had hoped he would be able to net draft equity in a deal of the injury-prone Brogdon, he wound up having to surrender picks to get the deal done. He ditched Portland's No. 14 pick in the draft, used on former Pittsburgh guard Carlton "Bub" Carrington, as well as a future 2029 first round pick and two second rounders.

Read More: Portland Officially Announces Trade, Jersey Number of Deni Avdija

In a fresh mailbag, The Rose Garden Report's Sean Highkin projects the relative odds that Cronin and his front office would make another deal before the start of the 2024-25 NBA season. Portland's first game of the year will transpire at home on Wednesday, October 23, against All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry's revamped Golden State Warriors. The Trail Blazers will tip off their year with a three-game Moda Center stand, in fact.

"Not very high," Highkin writes. "The [Damian] Lillard trade at the end of September last year was an exceptional circumstance, and trades don’t often happen that close to camp. Right now, the trade market is what it is, and the Blazers haven’t seen any offers this summer they’ve felt compelled to jump on."

The team has four veterans it could conceivably look to move: centers Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III, point guard Anfernee Simons, and power forward Jerami Grant. Of these, Ayton's exorbitant $34 million maximum salary could be the hardest to offload due to his inconsistent defense and his rumored chemistry issues with the Phoenix Suns.

"The roster as it stands right now... is going to be the roster on opening night," Highkin continues.
"Where that changes is a few months into the season, when teams either have injuries or realize what they have isn’t working, and that’s when the trade market picks up. The only deal the Blazers needed to make this summer was moving Malcolm Brogdon and they took care of that on draft night. Nothing else has made sense for them, to this point."

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