The Blazers Continue To Smash The Rebuild Button And Are Now Sending CJ McCollum To The Pelicans

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And we have another one! Man is there nothing like the days leading up to the trade deadline. You're afraid to even take a shower because there's a chance you might miss a Shams/Woj bomb. That makes no sense because that tweet and news will be there once you stop cleaning yourself, but there's something about the rush of seeing these tweets hit the timeline in real time that just does it for me. 

So let's talk about this latest trade. Pretty obvious the Blazers are smashing the rebuild button. My guess is this won't be the last move we see them make, there's still the expiring deal of Jusuf Nurkic that could be on the move you would think. You have to imagine Dame is signing off on all this activity or if not, the franchise is basically calling his bluff that he'll never leave no matter what. What I find interesting is what their interim GM just said the other day

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How do you prioritize making moves that can help you win this season versus long-term?

Cronin: It’s delicate. I think we all take a big-picture approach knowing that one season is a small vacuum of a larger picture. It’s hard. We’re all so competitive that we want to win consistently. Sometimes to do that, you have to take a step back at times. Sometimes you just have to be patient. So, you’re trying to balance deal by deal what accomplishes the overall big-picture goals.

But you guys aren’t looking into thinking now is the time to do an overhaul or reset for the long term?

Cronin: We’re looking at all different scenarios. Reset is a big word. We’re too competitive to want to do that. So it depends on what you mean by reset.

‘Reset’ meaning a long-term rebuild?

Cronin: No, I don’t think we have the appetite to tear it all the way down. We have too many good players and too many ways to get better without taking too big of a step back.

OK so hold on a minute. You traded Norm Powell and Robert Covington, two guys who were starters. One was a guy you just traded for an gave a big extension to. Now, they are trading CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. One was another starter and the other one of their main reserve/spot starter players. What happened to "not having the appetite to tear it all the way down"? I guess that really just means Dame right? Dame and Anfernee Simons. 

It was pretty clear their immediate task was getting money off their books. It's not like this is the first time we've ever heard CJ involved in trade rumors, and he has 2 years and $68M left on his deal after this season. In terms of what they get back, it's not like Josh Hart sucks. I actually really like Josh Hart. He's a nice combo guard who also happens to be on a very team friendly contract the next 2 or so seasons. That makes him an attractive piece I suppose for a rebuilding team. The other pieces are whatever. NAW is young and still pretty raw but he does have good size at 6'6. The Blazers are also getting a 1st round pick in this deal, and here are those protections

Ideally you're probably looking for that to be fully unprotected if you're giving up your second best player, so that's unfortunate. The Pelicans are obviously trying to hold onto that play in spot (they are 10th and 0.5 ahead of POR), so there's a chance that pick conveys this year. 

Here's where things don't look so hot. The Blazers gave up a total of 3 1st round picks to bring in Larry Nance Jr and Robert Covington, and now all they got back was one protected 1st. That's….not great! 

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On the flip side, at least the Pelicans are showing Zion they're trying. Remember Zion? The Pelicans bring in a floor spacer and shot creator in CJ to play next to Zion and Brandon Ingram, and that's an interesting fit. Hard to pack the paint when you have CJ on the perimeter. The defense is still a big time issue, but worry about that later. They just need to do everything they can to keep Zion happy. That's probably why making the play in is important for them. There was some pressure on David Griffin considering everything else he's done in NO has been a bit of a mess, but I don't think anyone is walking away from this trade saying the Pelicans lost the trade. That's progress!

Moving forward, the Blazers will now have cap space this summer. Awesome, who are they going to spend it on? Here's the current list

How many difference makers are there on this list that are going to change teams, and then once they do, decide on the Blazers? Cap space is great in theory until you have to actually use it on players. 

Which brings us back to Dame. We know he's loyal, almost to a fault. He keeps saying he'll never run from the grind. Well we're about to find out how true that really is, because the grind just got a whole lot tougher. Maybe he's changed his tune and that's what has sparked this fire sale. Other than that, I'm not sure what the plan actually is other than save ownership money and get future money off their books? Seems like a great way to spend your franchise player's prime.