Portland Trail Blazers: Grading The Offseason
Jumpstarting A New Era
With the fear that Aldridge would leave firmly implanted in everyone’s minds, Portland’s commitment to re-signing other free agents like Matthews and Robin Lopez hinged upon Aldridge’s decision. As the days wore on and Aldridge offered no reassurances, the front office wasted no time mourning a dying core and pulled the trigger on its reboot before the draft even began.
In a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, Portland jumped the gun on a restart, shipping Nicolas Batum away in exchange for veteran Gerald Henderson and former top-10 pick Noah Vonleh. With only one year left on Batum’s contract and Aldridge’s status still uncertain at that point, it was a smart move all around — especially after Vonleh’s strong Summer League play.
. @NoahVonleh named to All-NBA Summer League second team after averaging 17.3 points on 56 percent shooting and 8.5 rebounds in 4 games
— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) July 20, 2015
In the event of Aldridge’s departure, the soon-to-be 20-year-old Vonleh represented long-term insurance, even if he’s nowhere near as talented as L.A. Still, nabbing a 2014 lottery pick quickly established the tone of Rip City’s summer and with the right development, he could be a fundamental building block to put around Lillard.
In the meantime, the Blazers also added a useful scorer/sixth man in Gerald Henderson, who joined C.J. McCollum as the only player capable of logging minutes on the wing. Portland addressed this need later in free agency, but for the price of one season of a 26-year-old small forward coming off a down season (Batum)…Vonleh and Henderson were a pretty substantial return.
Grade: B+
Next: The Draft