Brian Roberts to Trail Blazers: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Miami Heat traded Brian Roberts and a second-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, a move that will drop the Heat below the luxury tax and save them $6 million.

The Heat will receive cash considerations in the trade, per Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Blazers announced the deal on Thursday. 

The trade comes a day after Roberts was traded to Miami in a three-team deal between the Heat, Memphis Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets, per Wojnarowski. The Heat landed Roberts from the Hornets, the Grizzlies acquired Chris Andersen and a pair of second-round picks from Miami and P.J. Hairston and a pair of second-round picks from Charlotte and the Hornets landed Courtney Lee from Memphis.  

Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald joked about the short duration of Roberts' stay with the Heat:

Roberts, 30, is averaging 4.8 points and 1.3 assists in 11.1 minutes per game this year after appearing in 30 contests with the Hornets. He never had the impact for Charlotte in 1.5 seasons with the team that he did for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2013-14, when he averaged 9.4 points and 3.3 assists per game, both career highs.

In Portland, he'll serve as a backup for superstar Damian Lillard. The Blazers are expected to cut point guard Tim Frazier to make room for Anderson Varejao, per Shams Charania of The Vertical, after Varejao and a 2018 top-10 protected first-round pick were acquired on Thursday in a three-team trade that also sent Channing Frye to the Cleveland Cavaliers, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Varejao's time in Portland will likely be rather short, however, as he's also expected to be released to clear cap space, per David Aldridge of NBA.com.

It's been a busy day in Portland, in other words. 

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