Portland Trail Blazers – Festus Ezeli
The Portland Trail Blazers already made one trade-season splash by sending Mason Plumlee to the Nuggets in return for Jusuf Nurkic. It’s unclear whether they’ll continue to make more moves, but one guy who has constantly been mentioned has been Festus Ezeli who has yet to play a single game with the Blazers.
Ezeli has been sidelined with a knee injury all season long and it’s really a shame that the Blazers haven’t been able to utilize a player who was supposed to bring them some much-needed post depth. If Utah were to acquire him, it would more than likely be a move for the future as it’s very questionable whether he’ll see any action this season or not.
He was a solid role player for the Golden State Warriors before joining Portland and could potentially add a nice lift as a backup center for the Jazz somewhere down the road. However, while he’s the most likely to be traded from Portland and would be one of the better fits position-wise, I’d have a hard time believing the Jazz would gamble on him.
There hasn’t been much more news out of Portland concerning trades other than hints that the Blazers could be listening to offers for Allen Crabbe. Crabbe is a phenomenal three-point shooter at 43 percent this season, and while his defense isn’t phenomenal he’d probably be the best realistic option for Utah outside of a healthy Ezeli.
Honorable Mention – Allen Crabbe