The Portland Trail Blazers have the longest active playoff streak in the NBA at eight consecutive seasons, but things are looking bleak for this franchise right now. Currently 16-24 on the season, the Blazers are the 10-seed in the Western Conference and after upgrading their talent at the trade deadline a season ago, they could be in store to be one of the biggest “sellers” this time around.
Sources tell NBA Analysis Network that not only will the team entertain trade offers for Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington, two veterans in the final year of their respective contracts, but they will field interest in Norman Powell as well.
Powell recently signed a five-year, $90M deal in free agency this past offseason to remain in Portland, a deal that drew a lot of criticism given the length of such a deal. Since joining the Portland Trail Blazers at the trade deadline last season, Norman Powell has averaged 17.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and has shot 38.2% from three-point range, making him a really solid third option next to Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for this team.
Portland is not actively looking to trade Powell at the moment, but with their position in the Western Conference right now and the fact that Damian Lillard could be done for the season with an abdominal injury, now is the best time for the Blazers to try and rebuild.
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Lillard has been dealing with an abdominal injury since the offseason and underwent surgery on Thursday to address this lingering injury. The Trail Blazers said following the announcement of successful surgery that Damian Lillard would be re-evaluated in six weeks.
With Lillard out, things are definitely not going to get better for Portland, especially with CJ McCollum also being out. McCollum has been sidelined indefinitely since December 3 after suffering a collapsed lung and his status to return is very up-in-the-air right now because of Portland being on the verge of a rebuild.
There is no better time for the Portland Trail Blazers to hit the “reset” button as a franchise not only because their star players are currently out, but because they have not looked like a playoff team and interim GM Joe Cronin is looking to take this franchise in a new direction.
It is possible that the team could field interest in Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum at the trade deadline, but it is very likely that they would consider trading Jusuf Nurkic, Robert Covington and Norman Powell before their key backcourt duo.
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Jusuf Nurkic (27) has been in Portland since the 2016-17 season and has been a key frontcourt talent in this league. Averaging a double-double two of the last three seasons, Nurkic is definitely an affordable trade deadline target for any team looking to “rent” a center for the rest of the season.
The same can be said for Robert Covington, who is now in his second season with Portland. Covington was traded to the Blazers ahead of last season via Houston and is still an impactful two-way threat that can wear many different hats for his team.
Over the course of his career, Covington has shot 35.8% from three-point range and he has the ability to play on the wing, in the low-post and sometimes even be his team’s center in “small-ball” lineups.
Trading both Nurkic and Covington could take the Trail Blazers below the tax line for the season, saving them a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, and possibly moving on from Powell not even one year into his new contract allows Portland to “reset” in the offseason and try to build around Lillard and McCollum once more.
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Powell is not expected to be traded ahead of next month’s trade deadline, but the Portland Trail Blazers are certainly interested in hearing what teams are offering for him.
