PORTLAND, Oregon — It has been a tumultuous week for the Portland Trail Blazers, with five losses in a row and a trade that sent Robert Covington and Norman Powell to the Los Angeles Clippers. In return, the Blazers got Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a 2025 second-round pick.
Longtime NBA reporter Dwight Jaynes, who covered the Blazers for years, said he thinks that other than getting the team under the luxury tax, it was a bad trade, especially losing Powell.
"He's a very good player," Jaynes said Saturday morning. "I just felt the combination of Covington and Powell did not net them the kind of assets they need moving forward."
The NBA reporter and analyst also said he thinks the Blazers made a move too soon, doing it a week before the trade deadline. Jaynes said his sources told him there were better deals to be had.
Jaynes spent Saturday morning on Twitter talking about the trade, the Trail Blazers organization and responding to questions and critics.
"I believe they're in the tanking process," he said. "They'll deny that, but I think you'll see them drop down into the lottery and try and get a good player in the lottery."
This move may be a precursor of more to come. In fact, it likely is. But what kind of moves? It seems rising star Anfernee Simons is safe. A lot of the talk has been about what CJ McCollum could get the Blazers if he goes.
As Jaynes wrote on Twitter: "Certainly this franchise is going to have to deal with some reality very soon." In Jaynes’ mind, that reality has to include looking at whether it's worth giving star player Damian Lillard a supermax contract extension this summer or making a moonshot deal that includes him.
"I would probably be looking to deal him now," Jaynes told KGW. "And I know that's going to alienate a lot of Blazers fans, but at some point, you have to make tough decisions when your team is in this situation."
Whatever happens in the near term, Jaynes is quite sure the Trail Blazers will eventually be sold by Jody Allen, the sister of the late Paul Allen and trustee of his estate.
"It's just worth too much money not to sell," Jaynes said. "If I owned it, I would sell it and I like basketball, OK? But when you start talking about over $2 billion, that’s just too much money to pass up."