OG Anunoby to the Portland Trail Blazers
In our first trade we look at, the Raptors land a burgeoning 23-year-old and one of the top picks in this year’s draft, while the Blazers get a potential building block on the wing (to pair with Damian Lillard), plus still land a back-end lottery pick that they can then use as an asset in another trade or to still get the chance to land a lottery pick.
Portland jumped to the No. 3 pick in the draft in the lottery and is now faced with a bit of a decision. Do they use the 3rd pick as trade fodder to go after a star to pair with their face of the franchise Damian Lillard, do they use the 3rd pick to kickstart a rebuild (and potentially trade Lillard), or do they attempt to balance the two paths by keeping the pick and Lillard. However, reports quickly came out that the Blazers were looking to trade the 3rd overall pick in order to continue to build around Damian Lillard.
More reports have recently surfaced that Portland is looking to package the 3rd pick with Anfernee Simons to pursue a star wing. While some speculation is they might have their eyes on someone like Paul George, Anunoby would also be a strong option as well. He provides a great mix of two-way ability to play alongside Dame.
In this trade, the Raptors get a 23-year-old (who just eclipsed the 20-points-per-game plateau) and move up in the lottery to select whichever of Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson don’t go 2nd overall to the Hornets. As the Raptors enter into an offseason with a lot of question marks, the trio of either Barnes-Simons-Miller or Barnes-Simons-Henderson feels like a great starting point for the Raptors to build around moving forward no matter what happens elsewhere on the roster.
In fact, many people believe that Henderson and Miller are two very strong prospects who would go No. 1 overall most years, but they’re just stuck behind Victor Wenbanyama this year. Henderson comes out of the GLeague Ignite program where he averaged 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. He is an explosive playmaker who has received comps to Russell Westbrook.
Miller is a 6-foot-9 forward with the skills of a guard. He averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in his lone year at Alabama. He shot 43% from the field and 38.3% from three (on over seven attempts per game). Miller distanced himself as the best pro prospect in college basketball this season. Landing either player would be a major boost to the Raptors’ future prospects.
This season with the Blazers, Simons averaged 21.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game on 44.7% shooting. Simons also shot 37.7% from deep and 89.4% from the line. I believe that Simons has great potential, and has been one of the top young shooting guards in the league over the past two seasons. Simons was tied for 10th among all shooting guards this season in points per game (and that’s while playing alongside Lillard).
The biggest difference between Anunoby and Simons at the moment is defensively. While Simons is an improving defender, he is still likely somewhere between below-average and average, while Anunoby is one of the best in the league. They are both strong offensive players, but Anunoby is the better defender.
Long-term, Toronto will be hoping that Simons continues to improve defensively and that his offense will make up for any issues. While Portland will hope that the defensive upgrade will make it worth moving back 10 spots and will help them compete in the short term around Dame. This trade feels like it would accomplish what both teams want it too.