The Boston Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers are two organizations looking to make some moves during the offseason. As presently constructed, neither squad will win a championship. Obviously Boston is closer, but as the Miami Heat showed this year, simply getting to the Finals isn’t enough.
This week, ESPN NBA insider Zach Lowe offered his thoughts on a swap between Boston and Portland centered around Gordon Hayward.
“I just think Portland has a move to make that makes their team click a little bit for next season and I think they need to click a little bit with given how good the west is going to be next season,” he said.
According to Lowe and cap expert Bobby Marks, a prospective deal between these two teams would involve some combination of Zach Collins, Trevor Ariza, Rodney Hood and a protected first round pick in exchange for Hayward.
“Ariza is going to be gone from me next year, Hood might be gone from me next year,” Lowe said. “I’m really just trading for Collins and I have to be really bullish on Collins as probably my future five to make that deal.
“I need to do some canvassing on what the league at large thinks of Zach Collins because I was really excited to see him play this year. I thought he was really essential for them in the playoffs in 2019 whenever the hell that was,” he continued.
“If he can get that three to a point where – he’s never going to be an elite three-point shooter – but if he can be Brook Lopez then he becomes a really interesting player.”
Fans weren’t shy about how they looked. https://t.co/VEgkGVevr3
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 27, 2020
Marks agreed with Lowe’s general sentiments. He observed that outside of Dame Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic who are obviously largely untouchable, Collins is the best trade piece available to the Blazers’ front office.
In Lowe’s estimation, acquiring Hayward would offer Portland a serious boost.
“Gary Trent Jr. really emerged for them in the playoffs,” he said. “I think Gary Trent’s really good. Is he big enough to be my starting 3? In a west that is going to be an absolute bloodbath next year.
Yikes Dwight Howard. https://t.co/OZwkISeu2z
— Game 7 (@game7__) October 27, 2020
“Portland’s not even guaranteed to make the playoffs next year, let alone get deep into the playoffs. If I can get Hayward, I can play Hayward some at the 4 with Trent at the 3. I can start Hayward and somehow find another power forward and Nurkic.”
So is Collins good enough for Boston to pull the trigger on this deal? It’s debatable. He only played in 11 outings this past season, averaging 7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game. If the Celtics feel like he would legitimately help against the likes of Bam Adebayo and Joel Embiid, then obviously you make this move. But if not – it’s a hard sell for a former All-Star.
One way or another, it is increasingly looking like Hayward will get dealt this offseason. Whether it will be to Portland or not remains to be seen.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
