3. Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers have been connected to a potential Nikola Mirotic deal, and it is believable that they would go after him.
Nikola Mirotic would nicely complement the attention Portland’s dynamic backcourt demands, and would also be a big beneficiary of the skilled passing of center Jusuf Nurkic. But what’s more enticing is the package the Bulls could see in return.
If Chicago would be willing to use their cap space, they could take on Moe Harkless’ bad contract in order to get young big man Noah Vonleh. Although Harkless isn’t anything to write home about, Noah Vonleh is a nice, young player who was hyper-productive on the boards when he saw minutes earlier this season.
Even though it isn’t the sexiest deal on the table, it’s hard to hate it, since it offers youth and upside. Depending on how negotiations pan out, Forman could even get Portland to swap Harkless for a player with more upside like Meyers Leonard, or even throw in a second round draft pick to sweeten the deal.
After all, the Blazers should be motivated, as Mirotic would really help them into the deeper playoff conversation, an achievement that may help put some meaning behind the Damian Lillard era they have committed to.