The Portland Trail Blazers have been rumored to be interested in a couple Denver Nuggets players in Arron Afflalo and Wilson Chandler. The Nuggets are not motivated to deal Chandler, and may believe he is a part of a core that they want to move forward with. Afflalo might be on the move to Portland, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
Last three teams I’ve spoken to convinced Denver WILL get first-round pick it wants for Arron Afflalo and think it’s coming from Portland
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 18, 2015
The Blazers own all of their first round picks for the coming season, and a first round pick would likely be in the 20s, but would be a nice piece for the Nuggets to acquire and could give the Nuggets three first round picks this season (if the Blazers pick indeed wound up being for the 2015 draft).
Afflalo is owed part of $7.5 million the rest of the way and has a player option for $7.5 million for the 2015-16 season and could be motivated to pick it up for the 36-17 Blazers. Afflalo has started all 53 games he has appeared in this season and is averaging 14.5 points on 42% shooting from the field and just 33% from three-point land – his lowest total from deep since the 2012-13 season with the Magic where he shot just 30% in 64 games with the team.
If the Nuggets get a player back in the deal, look at Will Barton the 24 year old forward in the body type of Corey Brewer. Looking at the Blazers salary, they are over the cap and it's not clear how a deal for Afflalo could be structured. Of note, the Blazers do not own a trade exception (salary space created from previous trades), according to Basketball Insiders team salary information.
The rumored players mentioned by Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski in a Nuggets and Blazers trade would need a little tweaking as they don't work on the Devil Machine ESPN Trade Machine:
Portland has shown a stronger desire to make a deal with Denver for Wilson Chandler than Arron Afflalo, partly because Chandler is under contract next season. The Blazers have made Will Barton and Thomas Robinson, as well as a future first-rounder, available in talks for wing players, but clearly would be more motivated to sweeten a package for Chandler than Afflalo, league sources said.
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