Los Angeles Lakers among the winners of NBA Trade Deadline

No. 3: Portland Trail Blazers

The deal that the Portland Trail Blazers made may seem like a minor one to same fans. After all, only one NBA player was exchanged. However, this deal was all about money for the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers completed a trade with the Chicago Bulls, sending Noah Vonleh to Chicago in exchange for the draft rights to Milovan Rakovic.

If Rakovic doesn’t ring a bell for you, you are not alone. He was the final pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks and was traded to the Orlando Magic. Now, the Blazers hold the rights to the 32-year old center. He may never appear in an NBA game, and that is perfectly fine with Portland.

Portland was one of the teams in a salary bind because of big spending during the 2016 offseason. The roster was loaded with overpriced, unproductive players, leading to a massive tax bill. They slashed into that tax bill by trading Allen Crabbe to the Brooklyn Nets, and now the Vonleh move has enabled them to get below the luxury tax line altogether.

While Vonleh has the draft pedigree, the Blazers had no real need for him. They selected two big men, Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan, in the 2017 NBA Draft. They also have Al-Farouq Aminu and Ed Davis that can play power forward.

This was a win for the Blazers, who weren’t using Vonleh in their rotation anyway. Now, they will also save money in the process.