Portland Trail Blazers: Making a case for Paul George

Taking a closer look at the Blazers’ financial situation

So let’s say the Pacers grow worried by all the rumors of George wanting to opt out, therefore causing them to want to trade George sooner rather than later. Not only would a draft-day trade ease the pressure early, but they’d give themselves some flexibility in terms of planning their long-term future (tanking, free agents, who to build around, etc.)

Barring the unlikely signing of an elite free agent, trading away Paul George would result in the Pacers immediately shifting the direction of their franchise, forcing them to build around center Myles Turner and, in this case, McCollum.

And when a small market team like the Pacers finds themselves in the rebuilding phase, nothing is more important than acquiring draft picks. It just so happens that the Blazers have three first round picks this year (15, 20, 26), as well as ALL of their future draft picks.

Per The Vertical, the 15th pick has a cap hold of $2.36 million, the 20th pick has a cap hold of $1.86 million, and the 26th pick has a cap hold of $1.46 million. Due to their financial situation, the Blazers aren’t even in a position to use all three this year, so let’s say both the 15th pick and the 20th pick are on the table.

Furthermore, McCollum’s contract jumps from $3.21 million to $23.96 million starting next season. Paul George’s 2017-18 cap hit is worth $19.51 million. Trading both players straight up is not an option.

So altogether, the core of Portland’s package would be a rising star guard in McCollum, as well as the 15th and 20th pick, all of which comes out to the grand total of roughly $28.18 million. This leaves the Pacers short $9 million.

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Now if this were 2K, the best case scenario is a prospect like Justin Jackson — whom Draft Express currently lists as the 14th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft — falls to 15, at which point the Blazers could offer the Pacers both him and the 20th pick. The Pacers trade away their franchise piece, but get a versatile, lottery-level wingman.

If I’m Portland, I push for Al Jefferson‘s $9.77 million to make up the $9 million deficit. Adding Jefferson ends up solving the Blazers’ problem of finding a viable backup to Nurkic, plus they end up not taking a huge financial burden as Jefferson’s $10 million salary in 2018-19 is non-guaranteed.

Then with the 26th pick, Portland can take a forward like Tyler Lydon out of Syracuse, whose small forward/power forward duality adds versatility, small-ball capability, sharpshooting, and much-needed frontcourt depth.