Patrick McCaw will get his shot at the starting lineup
The Portland Trailblazers surprised many preseason skeptics by going from an 0-3 start to a 7-6 record, which puts them in the playoffs were the season to end today - likely as the 7 or 8 seed, depending on how tiebreakers shake out. It's been a team spearheaded by Laurynas Birutis (16.6 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks) and remarkably balanced scoring - all five starters are averaging double-digit points.
But there was still room for improvement, and the Blazers opted for that with two seemingly small deals to ring the Day 30 bell.
In the first move, 24 year old Bonzie Colson was sent to the New Orleans Pelicans for 28 year old wing Patrick McCaw (a former UNLV alum and Jestor Lakers draftee) and the Sacramento Kings' 2027 2nd round pick.
"Bonzie is an interesting dude with a great name, but Finn Delany's development and surprisingly great play meant he was blocked from ever getting onto the court. New Orleans sorely needed a bench post upgrade, so they came and asked for him after we said no to their initial Aaron Holiday inquiry," said a Portland team source.
While Colson won't dislodge either of the Pelicans' starters, McCaw will get reps as the starting SF, allowing Portland to improve its second unit with Kawhi Leonard in place of Aleksander Venzenkov (more on him later).
"They're very similar players at this point," a West scout commented. "Patrick is a much better passer and slightly better defender, Kawhi a much better rebounder. Portland had concerns about Kawhi's body holding up over the entire season - he's 35 after all - and this allows them to limit his minutes while making the second unit a lot stronger. Plus, with Patrick being allergic to shooting, that opens things up for the rest of the guys in the lineup to get more shots. I think he'll be a really good fit there.
Either way, both these players have to be thrilled with the trade. It's a great move for their respective careers."
Aleksander Vezenkov was derpy in his time with the Blazers
Despite being the most talented player in the multi-player swap with the Los Angeles Lakers, Aleksander Vezenkov struggled to fit in with the Blazers. He had difficulty finding his shooting rhythm on a consistent basis in preseason and continued to not hit anything in the regular season - making for a hasty exit.
Continued the West scout, "His whole value is on offense and while the career numbers suggest his 34.5%/34.4% from 3 line will eventually improve, the advanced numbers in both preseason and the regular season spelled out in giant, glowing neon letters that he was a liability - consistently terrible NET and the lineups with him in it looking really, really bad. He had to go."
In exchange for the 27 year old, the Blazers acquired 25 year old perimeter player Cameron Oliver, 23 year old rookie center Jack Salt, and 35 year old veteran guard Ricky Rubio. The team has already declared that Rubio will be inactive the rest of the season and let go at the end of the year.
Will Jack Salt see any minutes?
In the run-up to the draft, the book on Jack Salt was that he was a projected mid-2nd round selection - a solid body who had "no holes in his game", but nothing spectacular either. He ended up going #36 overall - far earlier than many projected - and came in looking super raw for a player of his age, with no reports on how he did in camp.
The latest remarks: "Great center body with better than average passing and handling for a big man and a knack for drawing fouls. Allegedly efficient. But he's a black box - nobody really knows anything about him as far as his game translates to the pro level. He was barely mentioned prior to the draft, the media was silent on him after he was drafted, and yeah... He'll probably be out of the league in three years unless he shows something in preseason next year and look like a guy who plays better than his talent suggests like Finn Delany has."
So two players who look like they won't see much, if any time at all this season. Why did Portland make this move then?
The UNLV/UNR rivalry anew as Cameron Oliver joins the Blazers
Remember that All-Weird 2023 Jestor draft class? Dzanan Musa, Dikembe Dixson, Cameron Oliver, and two other second rounders who washed out of the league already? Well, Musa and Dixson are both with top teams in the league (Sacramento and Milwaukee respectively). Oliver, the third selection and first in the second at 36th overall like Salt, has continued to be mired in Lakers purgatory.
No one quite knew what position he would play at the next level - SF? PF? SG? PG? All four? Over the last couple years, he's morphed into a wing who plays SG and SF thanks to his exceptional passing and handling ability - to say nothing of his stellar DI/IQ. He's also developed into a respectable shooter out to the 3 point line, though his 2 point shooting has taken a dip so far this year.
He came into the league at 6'8, 225 pounds, but lost 10 pounds since then to facilitate his shift to a wing role. Not a great defender, but an excellent rebounder out of the guard spots. The Blazers will try him as the backup PG to see how he functions there in replacing Vasilije Mcic and - depending on how he does - there's scenarios where he could become a 6th man or a utility role player.
"He's a possible 4 position player for us," said a Blazers source. "Might need to rework his playstyle to fit in with our setup, but the talent is definitely there for him to play a key role going forward. Having him on board also gives us flexibility on how we continue to shape and mold this team over the next few seasons, since he's under contract for five years on a very friendly contract."
But for now at least, Portland is opting for minor tweaks around the edges and building on the core they're comfortable with as they try to put themselves in firmer playoff position.
