The Portland Trail Blazers continue to be among the teams reportedly interested in trading for Denver Nuggets veterans Arron Afflalo or Wilson Chandler. Trail Blazers vice president Neil Olshey, meanwhile, didn't rule out making a splash before the NBA trade deadline passes.
Portland (35-17) looks playoff-bound and is currently fourth in the Western Conference. Still, the team needs help off their bench - especially defensively - and could be one of the teams to watch ahead of the Feb. 19 deadline. Past reports have linked them to two of Denver's players, and on Tuesday ESPN's Ramona Shelburne confirmed Portland is still interested in at least one of them.
"Among teams Nuggs have discussed Afflalo (with) - Portland, Chi, Clips, Mia, Sac. He's got a player option next year, so (a first-round draft pick) is a lot to ask," Shelburne tweeted Tuesday night.
Reports have also linked Portland to Chandler, with Grantland's Zach Lowe reporting in January that the only holdup to the Trail Blazers trading for Chandler was their unwillingness to give up a first-round pick.
Even if Olshey wanted to, NBA rules prohibit him from discussing potential trades for players under contract with another team. Olshey didn't go into detail about his club's plans, but he didn't rule out pulling the trigger on a deal this season to upgrade his bench.
"I can't talk about specific players, but what I can tell you is we've got a unique situation. When you look at a lot of the trades that have happened to this point, they've brought in impact players, with the exception of probably one situation all of those players went into the receiving team as starters," he told the Oregonian this week. "And (those) teams conveyed significant assets and they ended up with a starter. We aren't trading anyone in our starting lineup. That is our starting lineup. It's one of the best starting lineups in the league. It's our core. We're committed to not only having them this year but in the future. We're not touching that.
"We're in a different situation because if were we to do something we're going to need to find an impact player that not only fits contractually, not only fits culturally and skill-wise but is somebody that's going to be able to come in and play a role that we don't think the guys that are here currently are capable of filling."
As for Denver, myriad reports - from ESPN to Basketball Insiders - have indicated almost all of Denver's roster, including Afflalo and Chandler, could be had for the right price.
