Blazers Send Deandre Ayton East, Land Haul in New Trade Proposal

Should the Portland Trail Blazers offload their priciest player to this East club?

That’d be starting center Deandre Ayton.

The 7-footer out of Arizona has been out since the Trail Blazers’ 134-89 blowout defeat at the hands of the ailing Memphis Grizzlies on November 10 with a finger injury. When healthy, the 26-year-old has been scoring at his least prolific clip ever, averaging 13.3 points on .519/.385/.625 shooting splits. He remains a reliable rebounder, however, notching 10.5 rebounds a night, along with 1.0 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks a night.

Ayton surprisingly thrived the most while surrounded by star players on the Phoenix Suns. Now, with an opportunity to truly stuff the stat sheet in Portland, he has provided its limitations as a scorer. He needs to be fed along the block.

Portland is also benefiting from a surplus stash of bench help behind Ayton, starting with his top two backups, one-time All-Defensive Second Team center Robert Williams III and rookie Donovan Clingan. Even Duop Reath, who enjoyed an outsized role on the club last season as a rookie, is a serviceable big man. The Trail Blazers don’t need Ayton to put up empty-calorie stats to tank and secure the draft rights to Cooper Flagg this summer. In fact, his basic competence may hinder their efforts to do that.

So perhaps it makes sense that an intriguingly competent young Charlotte Hornets club missing its top two centers could be a landing spot for Ayton and the $34 million he is awarded this season. In the final year of his deal, 2025-26, he’ll earn $35.6 million — a pretty generous number for a slightly below-average center.

Read More: Former Blazers Center Signs With Eastern Conference Team

In an epic new trade proposal piece, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report pitches a deal that would see Ayton landing in Charlotte, where he’d instantly start ahead of third-string 39-year-old center Taj Gibson. Starter Mark Williams and his backup Nick Richards remain on the shelf with long-term injuries. Richards would be shipped off in the deal, along with bench swingman Josh Green, backup power forward Grant Williams, and the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2025 second rounder. Given that the 76ers are 2-11 and looking awful, that second rounder could be a surprisingly high pick.

Charlotte Hornets Receive: C Deandre Ayton

Portland Trail Blazers Receive: G/F Josh Green, PF Grant Williams, C Nick Richards, 2025 second-round pick (via Philadelphia 76ers)

The real question, of course, is which of these assets would be keepers, and would this deal allow Portland to get materially worse?

Portland is 6-8, which would make it a playoff team in the East today, but in the crowded West that record slots the Trail Blazers in as the No. 13 seed.

Green, 24, is probably the most sensible long-term potential fit for this rebuilding Trail Blazers squad. When Richards returns, he could compete for minutes with Clingan, Robert Williams and Reath. Grant Williams seems to have essentially already peaked, but could be flipped as a trade chip elsewhere. So really, this deal is primarily centered around Green and the draft pick, plus the potential to add another selection via a subsequent Grant Williams agreement. It’s an okay return for an overpriced big man, but perhaps it would behoove Portland to hold out a bit longer and see if it could get even a late first rounder for Ayton’s services.

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