NBA: 5 unlikely trades that should happen before the deadline
By Nate Friesen
2. Portland gets much-needed frontcourt depth
There has been a lot of talk about Kevin Love to Portland in recent weeks and for good reason. It makes a lot of sense considering the Blazers desperately need a power forward and the Cavaliers have a good one.
This trade solves a lot of problems for the Blazers. First of all, it gives them a starting power forward who isn’t named Anthony Tolliver. And secondly, it gives them a starting center who gives consistent effort on both ends of the floor.
Kevin Love is obviously a huge upgrade for Portland and Tristan Thompson is an upgrade over Hassan Whiteside, at least in terms of effort. But most importantly, I think that Thompson could easily and would willingly slide to a bench role once Jusuf Nurkic returns from injury. This would give Portland an elite big man rotation.
Thompson is also a free agent this summer so they could either re-sign him to a more team-friendly deal or just let him walk and finally has some sort of cap flexibility to fill out their bench. This trade would make Portland a legitimate title contender with a big three consisting of Damian Lillard, Kevin Love and CJ McCollum.
In addition to that big three, their eight-man rotation would look like: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Rodney Hood, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson in their starting line up and Skal Labissière, Mario Hezonja and Anthony Tolliver off the bench.
Their rotation wouldn’t be very deep, however, they do have Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins who would help bolster that rotation once they’re healthy. They could also be a great destination for some late season buyout market additions.
For Cleveland, it gives them a really nice piece to add to their team in Anfernee Simons. It also gives them future cap flexibility with both Whiteside and Bazemore’s contracts set to expire this summer.
Most importantly, this trade puts Cleveland in a better position in the draft this summer where they can hopefully draft a wing/big to pair with their stash of elite young guards.