Portland Trail Blazers Receive: F Aaron Gordon
Orlando Magic Receive: G Rodney Hood, F Zach Collins, POR 2024 1st Round Pick
With the Orlando Magic really struggling this season due to various injuries on their roster, they would need a miracle to make the playoffs at this rate, which is why they could end up being heavy “sellers” at the NBA trade deadline. Aaron Gordon has been mentioned in recent NBA trade rumors ever since the start of the season and with his value still being high, it would be wise for the Magic to potentially move him now.
At full strength, the Magic definitely have a talented roster, but the question they need to answer as a franchise is whether or not what they have is enough to be a threat in the Eastern Conference. They have a solid blend of experienced players and younger talents but overall, the Magic still seem like they are a couple years away from being a real threat.
Trading away Aaron Gordon and gaining more assets to build with could definitely be beneficial, especially since this trade would give more opportunities to some of the younger players on the Magic’s roster to show what they can provide.
For the Blazers, they acquired Robert Covington in the offseason and he has been fantastic, but the Trail Blazers do not really have much depth in their frontcourt outside of their starting rotation. Carmelo Anthony is not really much of a factor rebounding this season and with both Nurkic and Collins out, the Blazers are pretty much only left with Enes Kanter as their only rebounder.
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Aaron Gordon is not an elite level rebounder, but he is more than capable of being a physical, big-bodied forward that can aid the Blazers defensively and on the glass. When Nurkic does return, Portland would have plenty of frontcourt depth and be able to utilize Gordon more for his offensive skill set as well.
Rodney Hood has been pretty disappointing this year for the Blazers off-the-bench and with Collins being out indefinitely still, Portland could gain a lot as it pertains to their potential championship run this year. With that said, let’s take a look at why this trade makes sense for both the Orlando Magic and the Portland Trail Blazers.
