Portland Gets Incredible Haul in Deal For Deandre Ayton

At 9-20, the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2024-25 tank is well underway. Still, the team could always do more to avoid winning this season, especially with the 7-21 Utah Jazz and the 5-25 New Orleans Pelicans (losers of seven straight) both also in the Western Conference, and clubs like the 7-22 Charlotte Hornets, 7-23 Toronto Raptors and 4-23 Washington Wizards stinking it up in the East.

Several Portland veterans might be better served helping contenders elsewhere, and while many have been floated in trade chatter already, Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin has yet to make a move.

But that’s why we’re here.

A fresh three-team trade proposal with the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets, cooked up by our own Matt Levine, sees Portland ditching two of its pricier players who don’t really match the timeline of the club’s intended young core.

Blazers receive: D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie, Grant Williams, Vasilije Micic, a 2026 first-round pick from the Hornets, and two second-round draft picks from the Lakers

Lakers receive: Anfernee Simons and Cody Martin

Hornets receive: Deandre Ayton and Maxwell Lewis

Ayton, 26, is the team’s highest-paid player. The 7-foot Arizona product is earning $34 million this year, and is under contract through 2025-26. In 20 games thus far, the Trail Blazers’ starting center is averaging a career-low 14.4 points on 56.3 percent shooting from the floor and 60.9 percent shooting from the foul line, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, plus 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks a night. He has hardly looked like the No. 1 draft in 2018, who was selected ahead of future studs like Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Trae Young.

Simons, 25, was a nice late first round draft find by the Trail Blazers (selected at No. 24 in Ayton’s draft), but just because he’s a homegrown talent doesn’t mean Portland should let sentiment get in the way of a good trade. Portland’s current starting point guard is making $25.9 million this season, and like Ayton will become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. In 26 bouts, the 6-foot-3 vet is averaging 17.4 points on .412/.323/.907 shooting splits, 4.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds a night.

The prize in this proposed deal is really the 2026 Hornets first and the pair of second rounders. Russell is on an expiring deal this season and could be flipped again to another club, or held onto by Portland in a bid for bonus summer cap sapce. Vanderbilt has missed the entire season — and much of the last one — with an injury, and is starting to look like a sunk cost on the first season of a four-year, $48 million extension he inked with L.A. Williams, a versatile combo forward, could have some further trade appeal on a good contract or could be a serviceable vet. Christie, 22, is a solid 3-and-D wing worth retaining.

Micic, 30, is only in his second NBA season, and has turned heads with his production in Charlotte so far. He could function as essentially a much cheaper Simons — a veteran option at the point while Scoot Henderson develops.

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