Should Blazers Make Deadline Push to Pair Lillard, McCollum with DeAndre Jordan?
The Portland Trail Blazers may have backed themselves into an impossible corner. They're good enough to make the playoffs but not much more than that, and their books are loaded with bad contracts over the next two years.
Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline has the potential to define the future of the Blazers in the short term. According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, they've been linked to Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, one of the biggest names available on the trade market.
Jordan, although far from the most versatile big in the league, is the kind of player who could upon his arrival shut down any talk of Portland breaking up its star backcourt (at least for the time being). All signs indicate the dynamic duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum will stay intact, but the conversation is out there.
Given general manager Neil Olshey's lack of both attractive trade chips and financial flexibility, improving the roster is a daunting task. His efforts to retool in the past have included signing role players like Ed Davis and Al-Farouq Aminu and trading for rotation players such as Maurice Harkless—not exactly needle-movers in today's superstar-driven Association.
The Blazers have managed to stay afloat since losing LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency in the summer of 2015, but they still haven't made it past the second round of the playoffs, which has only led Lillard and McCollum, currently in their primes, to crave superstar assistance. Both campaigned over the summer for the Blazers to trade for Carmelo Anthony, per Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest, even though Anthony showed no interest in waiving his no-trade clause to join Portland. Before that, McCollum made it clear Paul George should also be a target.
Lillard has stated many times in interviews and on social media that he wants to play his entire career in Rip City, and there's no reason to doubt his intentions. However, his recent face-to-face meeting with Blazers owner Paul Allen, reported by ESPN.com's Chris Haynes, makes one thing clear: As long as he's in Portland, he wants to be contending.
And that's where Olshey has his work cut out for him.
The Blazers are beyond capped out into next season. They have over $110 million in guaranteed money committed for 2018-19, and the latest projections put next year's cap around $102 million, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Also, that's before taking into account restricted free agents Jusuf Nurkic, Shabazz Napier and Noah Vonleh, who could get pricey if re-signed.
Don't expect any team to present an escape route for the contracts of Evan Turner (due $53.6 million through 2020, including this season) or Meyers Leonard (due $31.8 million through 2020). There's a lack of cap space to take on those deals around the league, and while Turner is a useful rotation player, his production doesn't match his salary. Leonard has fallen out of the Blazers' rotation despite being given no shortage of opportunities to succeed over his six seasons in Portland.
If Olshey wants to get out of either of those deals, he'll likely have to attach significant draft assets to get another team to take them on. And giving up the chance to draft a young, cost-controlled player who can contribute is the opposite of what a team in Portland's position should be doing, given the limited methods he has to add talent.
If the Blazers have a window to seriously compete in the Western Conference, it's in the next half-decade. Lillard is 27, and McCollum is 26. Both are under contract for the next three seasons. Olshey has surrounded the two guards with others in a similar age range—everyone on the Blazers roster is under 30—but many of the supporting players appear to have reached their ceilings.
Jordan, despite being a bit older, would give this team a player who offers regular, reliable production. The 29-year-old is the model of consistency, which Nurkic has not been this season, and he could provide the kind of rim protection that could bolster the 11th-ranked defense in the league (104.9 points allowed per 100 possessions).
Jordan would also demand fewer touches on the offensive end than Nurkic while giving Portland an interior weapon who would work well in pick-and-rolls with Lillard and McCollum. The Blazers' reported interest in him makes sense.
However, Jordan can opt out of his contract this summer and become an unrestricted free agent. He'll likely be looking for a long-term max deal on the open market. If the Blazers trade for Jordan, they won't want him as a rental (although using his free agency as an opportunity to clear the books a bit wouldn't be terrible for a franchise that is sitting on the league's sixth-highest payroll).
The trade market for Jordan hasn't been as robust has the Clippers hoped it would be, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, but he's still drawing interest around the league as the deadline approaches. The catch for Portland is there's no obvious package for it to send back.
Acquiring Jordan would likely involve some combination of Nurkic, Davis' $6.4 million expiring contract and Harkless, a useful wing who has fallen out of head coach Terry Stotts' rotation in recent weeks. It wouldn't be a spectacular return for the Clippers, but it's unclear whether they will receive a better offer. Knowing that L.A. is targeting "young players and picks," the Blazers could dangle Noah Vonleh or future draft selections as well.
Of course, Los Angeles could decide to hold on to Jordan the rest of the season to make a playoff push, even after trading Blake Griffin to Detroit last week. If that ends up being the case, there aren't many options on the trade market for the Blazers.
Per Wojnarowski (h/t Erik Garcia Gundersen of Celtics Wire), Boston wants a first-round pick for guard Marcus Smart, who will be a restricted free agent and is due a big extension this summer. Houston Rockets forward Ryan Anderson is a good on-court fit, but the Blazers should prefer to pay long-term money to someone like Jordan considering they're already third in three-point shooting. Nikola Mirotic is off the market after the Bulls traded him to New Orleans last week. Kevin Love, a Portland-area native, is out for up to two months with a hand injury.
There have been no signs that Olshey is interested in trading Lillard or McCollum, and it would be a shock if he moves one of them before Thursday. The Blazers, however, may have no choice but to revisit the idea of listening to offers for McCollum over the summer if they can't get better by Thursday's deadline.
McCollum and Lillard are the players most likely to get Portland a significant package of picks and players in return, and the Blazers have too much invested in Lillard on and off the court to seriously consider moving him now.
If Olshey does decide to move McCollum, he could also attach one of the Blazers' bad contracts to him as part of the asking price. However, such a big move would not only risk alienating Lillard, but also, it wouldn't guarantee a brighter future for the Blazers.
For now, they have no choice but to stick with the Lillard-McCollum pairing and revisit things over the summer. But the team would feel better about that conversation after seeing what the two could accomplish next to a player of Jordan's caliber the rest of this season.
Portland is still a playoff team (at 29-25, it is seventh in the Western Conference), and there are worse things to be. After all, ninth or 10th seeds rarely win the NBA draft lottery. But a series of bad contracts leaves a flawed roster with few options to improve.
DeAndre Jordan is one of those options, and while he may not get the Blazers into the upper echelon of the West, he'd be a trade-deadline win for a team desperately trying to build around its star backcourt.
Sean Highkin has covered the NBA for outlets including Bleacher Report, The Athletic, NBC Sports and USA Today. Follow him on Twitter: @highkin. Stats courtesy of NBA.com, and salary information courtesy of Basketball Insiders.
