Toronto Raptors are swapping Norman Powell for the Portland Trail Blazers for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood ahead of Thursday’s 3:00 pm ET deadline, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal is somewhat unusual in appearance. Powell and Trent are similar players, guards best known for their pitches, and Trent apparently would make more sense for Portland, given his superior defense. However, with the two players going to the free agency in the off-season, this agreement sends a message about what each team is planning for the summer.
For Toronto, the appeal is obvious. Trent, as a former second-round pick, will have a small limit this off-season. He will be a restricted free agent, and the Raptors will be able to maximize their space at the limit by using him first and then signing again with Trent. They couldn’t have done the same with Powell because he is a veteran coming out of an expensive business this off-season. The Raptors are changing it in part because it is going to be expensive this off season. The fact that Trent is also restricted also helps. Raptors will be able to match any offer for him. Hood is only matching his salary and his contract for next season is not guaranteed.
In theory, expenses are the same reason that Portland is negotiating Trent. The Blazers would not give it up if they were confident in their ability to retain it this season. Trent and Powell will likely go for similar amounts when the dust settles, but Portland had Trent in the building. They know more about his situation than Powell’s, and they probably feel that Powell is the most reliable player.
The Blazers are currently in sixth place at the Western Conference. Powell gives them another explosive striker on the defensive side alongside Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, but with Trent out, his defense probably worsened. Now, they will have to rely largely on scoring to fuel their success, while Toronto receives a long-term owner who must be able to maintain this off-season. For this reason, they rank very well in this business.
Toronto receives:
Portland receives:
Commercial class of raptors: A
The only reason the Raptors are switching Powell in the first place is money. They are designed to have almost the maximum space, but getting that space would mean clearing the boundary of all your own free agents. That’s why, in essence, they’re likely to switch to Kyle Lowry as well. They cannot retain either through a free agency, so they might as well get value for them now.
Trent does not come with the same limitations. As he was chosen in the second round, his maximum free agency limit this off-season is a meager $ 2.1 million. This will allow Raptors to retain their rights to the books at a cost of just $ 2.1 million, while spending their limit on other players. They can then hire you again at a significantly higher salary. It is a very astute maneuver of a Raptors front office that stands out in this arena. They basically replaced Powell with a quality Powell breeder that they can maintain without sacrificing the rest of their space.
Trent doesn’t have the advantage of Powell as a top scorer, but he is a better overall player and will likely pair with Fred VanVleet as Toronto’s defense in the future. The Raptors won a championship based largely on the idea that everyone in their rotation should be able to shoot and defend. In Trento, they added a young guard who fits that profile, and they didn’t have to give up a single recruiting asset to get him. The Raptors couldn’t have asked for much better.
Commercial classification of Trail Blazers: C +
In terms of talent, it may be a small update. Gunners as good as Powell are almost never available on time. For certain teams, that offensive advantage would be incredibly valuable. It is simply not clear whether Portland is one of them. His attack is currently in sixth place in the NBA, but that does not give him due credit. The Blazers achieved this ranking despite a series of injuries and, in the context of NBA history, this season was so strongly offensive in the league that their 6th place would give them the seventh most efficient attack in NBA history. Firepower was not what this team needed.
A defensive update would have been a good thing, however. Portland occupies 29th place in the standings and has been fighting for years, in part because of the small stature of its backcourt. Powell is only 6-4. It does not help on that front and, although it is not a defensive risk, it is a relegation in Trento. The defense ranked 29th in the NBA should not be closing deals with an expiration date that would harm their defense.
The truth is that this deal was probably done in part because of information to which we do not have access. The Blazers have a sense of how much Trent would cost in that off-season, because they had him in the building. For some reason, they apparently decided that they would rather pay Powell everything he asks for than Trent everything he asks for. This is a choice that would make sense for some teams. On paper, not for Portland. Any slight improvement in talent does not make up for the questionable fit here.