Portland Trail Blazers: What should Rip City do with its trade exception?

Option 3: Use it in a trade involving Melo

Let’s be real: Any trade idea that involves Carmelo Anthony leaving the New York Knicks to play with the Portland Trail Blazers is a pipe dream. While things could change as soon as tomorrow, Melo has already gone on record saying he has no interest in waiving his no-trade clause for Rip City.

However, the Blazers could still end up using the trade exception in a potential deal involving Anthony, only Melo would be going to Houston instead of Portland. In this case, the Blazers would receive Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza in a three-team trade, sending Meyers Leonard, Maurice Harkless and Pat Connaughton to the Knicks.

While I’m not exactly a fan of the Blazers nabbing Anderson due to his reputation as a poor defender, his ability to space the floor is definitely a tool that Terry Stotts would love having in his offense, especially considering the Blazers front office just traded away the second most efficient three-point shooter in the NBA.

It’s also important to understand that we have yet to see Nurkic in a full season with the Blazers. Inserting Anderson’s outside shooting ability right beside an inside scorer like Nurkic could prove to be the right move if Nurkic proves to be a reliable rim protector in Portland’s system.

And as I mentioned in my proposed trade for Paul George, Portland’s reputation for being poor defensively stems from their inability to guard the perimeter rather than their overall ability to defend the paint, which is why the trade exception is such a key part of making this deal work.

With the trade exception, the Blazers become eligible to absorb Trevor Ariza’s contract. Not only does Rip City get another guy to help space the floor, but they also add a guy that ranked 15th in the NBA in deflections per game, 12th in opponent’s turnovers per game, and 33rd in personal fouls drawn.

For the sake of comparison: Paul George held opponents to 35.7 percent shooting from behind the arc. McCollum held opponents to 37.8 percent from behind the arc, while Lillard held opponents to 36.4 percent. Crabbe (36.6), Harkless (36.6), Turner (37.0), and Shabazz Napier (40.2) each posted marks worst than that of Paul George.

Trevor Ariza held opponents to 35.2 percent from behind the arc. Among players that had opponents shoot more than 20 three-pointers against them, Ariza ranked fifth in opponent three-point percentage.

If the Blazers prove unable to trade for someone like Jae Crowder, then using the trade exception in a trade for Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza would be the next best thing.