Portland Trail Blazers: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
By Finn Carlson
Kent Bazemore trade
With everything considered, adding Kent Bazemore to the roster was a fantastic move. The Portland Trail Blazers traded Evan Turner to the Atlanta Hawks for Bazemore straight up.
While Evan Turner’s presence on the team and on social media will be missed, Bazemore is a much better player who has a chance to start at small forward for the Blazers.
Bazemore is a proven shooter as he averages 35.2 percent from three point range and he also has a wingspan of 7-feet. He brings overall experience to the roster as well as length on defense. He will be someone who competes for the starting small forward spot.
Altogether, this trade was a complete win for the Blazers. It costs Portland about the same amount of money to have Bazemore instead of Evan Turner and Bazemore brings more threats to the team.
As far as instant impact goes, Bazemore fills all of the criteria. Bazemore is a starting caliber small forward with excellent 3-point shooting and experience playing in the NBA. The cost to the team is also next to nothing as he is on a contract similar to Evan Turner’s.
Overall, this trade made the Blazers a better basketball team in almost every way. The only factor keeping this move from being an A is that Kent Bazemore was overshadowed in Atlanta last season and can look to become a more consistent scorer in Portland.