As the trade deadline approaches, many teams that are not satisfied with their record are eager to seize this final window of reinforcement to make another adjustment to the team roster. For example, the Nets, which are open to the all-Star James Harden trade, and Philadelphia, where the "Where To Go Simmons" bubble drama lasted for most of the season.
Surprisingly, the first shot of the transfer wave did not start in the East, where the focus was, but on the West side of the move - the Portland Blazers sent Robert Covington and Norman Powell to the City of Angels, and the rewards from the Clippers were Eric Bledsoe, Justis Winslow, Keane Johnson and a 2025 second-round pick from the Pistons. From last season's sixth place in the West to the current tenth place in the West, it is normal to have a psychological gap and seek trade reinforcement, but such a deal is somewhat surprising.
As soon as the news of this deal came out, everyone was in an uproar. You know, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin just said in a recent interview that the Blazers will not choose to rebuild, because there are still many good players in the team who can become better without changing too much, so there is no such plan. Cronin stressed that they will wait patiently for Damian Lillard to recover and that the team will be with Coach Lee for many more years.
As a result, Yu Yin was still lingering in his ears, and Li Zhi, who was still recuperating, found that "the home was demolished". Covington and Powell, the two absolute starting players, were sent to the opponents of the same city, in exchange for the blood cloth that has long since ceased to explode, Winslow, who has been injured in the previous two seasons, the 19-year-old rookie No. 21 show and a future second-round pick. Clear-eyed people can see that this is "becoming better without changing too much", and the book strength is obviously not increasing but falling.
After the deal was completed, Joe Cronin was interviewed about the motivation for the deal, and the Blazers general manager praised it as "cleaning up salaries, ensuring space flexibility and balancing the lineup". What Cronin said was grandiose, in fact, he wanted to save money. Powell, 28 years old, averaged 18.7 points per game this season, shooting 40.6% from three-point range, is the league's top scorer, and more importantly, he signed a contract with the Blazers in the offseason for only 5 years and 90 million, and the next few seasons are super cost-effective quality contracts. Not to mention Covington, the alliance is scarce in high-quality 3D, and it is fragrant everywhere.
In contrast, the situation of the chips, blood cloth and Winslow has been mentioned earlier, and the 19-year-old Johnson is just a rookie. Co-author co-author co-authored Covington, who was exchanged for two first rounds, and Powell, who used young Trent for immediate combat strength, so that he used tomorrow to change the current operation, and finally only changed back to one second round? Is this called "cleaning up salaries, ensuring spatial flexibility and balancing the lineup"? Isn't this a proper swing?
Think of the Blazers' previous boss Paul Allen is also not bad money lord, even so spend money like water, tearing city in attracting big stars to join is always difficult to achieve, since Allen's widow took over the team, the team's budget is not as good as a year, to put it bluntly, this transaction is for reasonable tax avoidance. Considering that Paul Allen and Clippers owner Ballmer belong to the Microsoft department, the deal looks more like a smooth water, and the Clippers have made a lot of money. Originally Leonard and George's injuries everyone thought that this season "sank", now it seems that when the playoffs start to play double core has a certain probability of return, coupled with such a role player configuration, the Clippers are the biggest winner!
Poor Lillard, full of "loyalty" and "one man, one city", was eventually bound by loyalty. The management did not force him to go, first dismantled the lineup, this next direction is not to go, it is difficult to stay in the torn city, the career is afraid to go further. The problem was thrown to Lee by the Blazers management, whether to insist on one person and one city or look for opportunities to launch the final impact on the coveted championship ring, go or stay, really have to think about it. If you are a guide, how will you choose?