Portland Trail Blazers trade talk is going to hit a fevered pitch this summer. The Blazers are in prime position to make moves. They’re a good team on the fringes of the NBA Playoffs scene, but not great. They have a couple veteran contracts for salary-matching purposes, young players to add seasoning to a deal, and future draft picks to spend as necessary. Everything points to Portland being active in trade discussions over the coming months.
Whether they’ll actually get a deal done is another matter.
I was asked the other day if it’s time for the Blazers to take a big swing. My response was pretty simple: Who’s available? Great players are the rarest commodity in the NBA. They’re like super-elite sports cars. They turn heads and set hearts racing. Nobody’s going to swap them for any number of Lexuses or Acuras. But hey, you can dream, right?
Which brings us to this question from the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag about Portland’s trade goals.
Dave,
If we could go out and get any player who might actually get traded who would your ideal person be? You have alot of freedom. Joker and Shai wouldn’t ever get traded but how about the next level below that? Or Giannis is ok too. Who would you say we should chase at least in your dreams?
Jay
Ironically enough, I was talking to a fairly-expert friend of mine about this subject last week. We both put our cards on the table and said, “You know who would be great?” at the same time. And we both came up with the exact same name: Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes.
A couple of caveats. First, for the Toronto fans reading, I know he isn’t available. He fits the criteria of the question above and he was the first name to come to mind. That’s why he’s here, not because we’re disrespecting you. You have permission to dream about trades for Deni Avdija if you wish.
Second, Barnes will not solve Portland’s three-point shooting problem. He shot 30.4% from the arc last season. That’s worse than all of Portland’s major players. I am well aware of that. The Blazers would have to stock the team with shooters to shift in and out of the rotation and/or pray that their incumbent players got better.
But beyond that…what a dream: Avdija, Barnes, Toumani Camara, and probably Scoot Henderson and Donovan Clingan to start out with. Evolve it as it goes. Damian Lillard peeks in there somewhere. If Jrue Holiday is still here—likely because Portland gave up ALL their draft picks to get this deal done—so much the better. Throw in a a couple of stretch bigs off the bench and maybe a shooter at the wing and we’re good.
Why? Because Barnes is a near-miraculous fit for what the Blazers are doing right now.
First, he’s 6’8 and can play any of the three middle positions in the lineup, from shooting guard to power forward. That’s mostly because he can guard all three. When Barnes first came into the league, his overall talent earned him quiet whispers of “future MVP”. He’s progressed in several ways, but the most impressive is reflected by his fifth-place finish for Defensive Player of the Year this season. He didn’t have to get that good defensively. He could have ridden his offensive production to a big contract and NBA All-Star appearances. He didn’t. He worked. He learned. He grew. That alone makes me covet the guy. It’s everything the Trail Blazers are trying to build around.
For reference, Barnes finished 13th in the league in blocked shots per game this season. 11 of the 12 players above him were centers. The 12th was Chicago Bulls wing Matas Buzelis (another potentially interesting target) with whom Barnes was in a virtual tie. Barnes also finished Top 20 in steals per game. And that’s just the flashy stats. His overall defensive numbers are really, really good. This guy throws his heart, soul, and left kidney into defensive possessions. He’s the exact inspirational anchor—and line reinforcement—that Portland’s young roster needs. That Barnes-Avdija-Camara lineup with decent-to-great defenders at the 1 and 5 would be intimidating.
Barnes can also score. He averaged 18.1 per game for the Raptors this year, down from 19+ the two years prior. He doesn’t top 20 for three reasons.
First, the three-point shooting just isn’t there. He attempts around 3 per game, hitting 1. He’s neither a volume nor percentage shooter from distance.
Second, he doesn’t draw free throws. Deni Avdija’s free throw rate—number of free throws per field goal attempted—is .573. Toumani Camara’s is a paltry .154. Those are the two poles for the Blazers. Barnes sits at .264, much closer to Camara than Deni.
Third, and most importantly, Barnes has the ability of a lead scorer (particularly when he gets to the rim) but the mentality of a distributor. He averages 5.9 assists per game with a 26.3% assist percentage. Only Avdija and Jrue Holiday exceed those numbers in Portland. Barnes will move the ball accurately and completely willingly, playing right into the current Blazers ethos.
We haven’t even gotten to the best parts yet. Barnes shoots 50.7% from the field because he as good at getting to the rim and converting within 10 feet. Half of his shots come up close. His conversion rate at the cup is over 70%. between 3-10 feet—a range that’s like grease-covered calculus to most modern NBA players—he’s still at 45%. His highlight reel shows plenty of this ability (and everything else we’re talking about).
Even better for the Blazers, Barnes is 24, going on 25 next season. He has experience (5 seasons, 2 in the playoffs) but he’s the same age as Portland’s core. And he’s under contract for the next four years, no options, between $41 million and $51 million. There are no Giannis Antetokounmpo compromises here with age and free agency.
Absolutely everything about Scottie Barnes is right down the middle of the plate for the Blazers with the exception of the three-point shooting. I’ll sacrifice that for now to complete the archetypical roster they’re trying to build.
Is Barnes available? No. Could this deal really get done this year? No. But if you’re talking one, single player south of MVP candidates and untouchable former lottery picks for whom I might conceivably trade every last draft asset the team has accumulated, plus a young player, plus salary ballast, it’d be Scottie Barnes.
How’d we do? Do you agree that Barnes would be a great addition or do you have another dream target? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. And if you want to send in a question for Mailbag consideration, the email is blazersub@gmail.com. Drop a line and we’ll try to answer as many as possible!
