Did the acting Blazers GM “bluff” or did he just mean that Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic were the only untouchables in Portland? Anyway, it moved in Oregon.
ESPN announces that the Clippers recover Norman Powell and Robert Covington in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and the second round of the Detroit Draft in 2025.
While Paul George won’t be back anytime soon and Tyronn Lue isn’t expecting to see Kawhi Leonard again this season, one would have thought Los Angeles would be pretty quiet as the transfer window ends.
But Steve Ballmer’s franchise remains very aggressive and wants to surround his duo as best as possible in the medium and long term future. Robert Covington is however a free agent at the end of the season but Norman Powell had for his part re-enlisted for five years last summer and his contract therefore runs until 2026. Enough to be able to work.
For the Blazers, this is an opportunity to get rid of Norman Powell’s contract precisely, whose association with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum seemed to show its limits anyway.
The team thus gains in flexibility, Eric Bledsoe’s contract for next year being only very partially guaranteed (3.9 out of 19.4 million) while Justise Winslow will only receive 4.1 million dollars and Keon Johnson is in his rookie contract. Not sure, however, that it will help the team in the short term, as Damian Lillard hoped…
