Portland Trail Blazers: 3 players most likely to be traded before deadline
The Portland Trail Blazers may be looking to fortify their roster ahead of the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline. Which players are most likely to be dealt to help make that possible?
The Portland Trail Blazers are sitting pretty halfway through the 2018-19 NBA season. Their 109-104 victory over the Utah Jazz boosted their record to 29-19, putting them fourth in the Western Conference and giving them their best record through 48 games since the 2014-15 season.
Roster continuity has played a big part in the Blazers’ recent success. However, the team’s talent level ultimately falls just short compared to the league’s title contenders. It feels like Portland is a move or two away from moving into that next tier.
As the Feb. 7 trade deadline looms, various NBA insiders have noted in passing that the Trail Blazers will be aggressive in finding a deal to help improve the team. Brian Windhorst quickly noted it as the Jan. 17 edition of ESPN‘s The Jump drew to a close. Zach Lowe has also lightly broached the topic on two podcasts: The Jan. 16 editions of The Ringer podcast and his own Lowe Post podcast.
The question is which Blazers are most likely on the move. CJ McCollum is constantly thrown around as a trade piece. He has even joked about it when he spoke to Jason Quick of The Athletic.
"“What’s his name … Bill Simmons has been trying to get me traded for like five years,” McCollum said the day Simmons’ website The Ringer posed a McCollum for Aaron Gordon trade. “There’s a proposed trade for me three times a year by him. I admire the fact that he thinks I’m worthy of being traded to … 12 teams.”"
However, McCollum is the probably third least-likely player to be traded at the deadline, behind Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic. While he would bring in a nice haul, and maybe the player Portland needs to push the team over the hump, general manager Neil Olshey has historically scoffed at the idea of breaking up their current Big 3.
That doesn’t mean that McCollum absolutely will not be traded. The chance of being dealt at the deadline just isn’t as high as it is for the following three Blazers.