While it’s a trade that will surely make Bill & Ted proud …
… it’s Joe & Rob that really matter, as in Cronin & Pelinka. This is me passing the ball ahead to them for a 2-on-none fast break. We’ll see if they can convert!
But first, a couple of breaking news items of the non-breaking breaking news variety. A byproduct of some simple tea leaf reading by me.
- LeBron James isn’t going anywhere. This is not his last hurrah. He WON’T be retiring after this season. (I thought this before the stunning acquisition of Luka Doncic and believe it to be even more likely now he returns for his 23rd year.)
- What he WILL do is opt out of his current contract (he has a player option for 2025-26) and resign for two years, with the second year being another player option. He’ll time this such that his team will be able to enter the free agent market.
- Their biggest need in free agency has already been identified via the nixed Mark Williams trade – a center, as Jaxson Hayes just ain’t getting it done! But this isn’t the non-breaking breaking news…
- The trade being rescinded had nothing to do with Mark Williams. Los Angeles saw an out and they took it, but the “why”, the real reason behind it all, is where this all gets really interesting, albeit purely speculative. Again, this is me just reading tea leaves, but man, it sure does feel right!
Mark Williams became the initial target of LA, cause they weren’t enamored with the 2025 free agent center options (namely Myles Turner or Brook Lopez). They opted for a younger and cost-controlled option, who undoubtedly would excel playing with two of the NBA’s premier playmakers in Luka and LeBron, provided he could stay healthy. Which, admittedly, was a big IF!
Upon the consummation of the trade, another team or teams (possibly even your Portland Trail Blazers), expressed regret, informing Los Angeles their 1st round pick sent out in the trade could’ve been put to better use. So convincing was this other team or teams, LA nixed the deal.
We likely won’t ever know if Portland was ‘the’ team or amongst the group that convinced Los Angeles to go in a different direction, but I think the Trail Blazers can make the most compelling case as a trade partner. A case best made by extolling the virtues of the trade from LA’s perspective.
Be it this trade or just trades generally, I am convinced this is the surest pathway to getting a deal done, being focused first on the other team’s needs. Offering them real value right out of the gate. This gets their attention and demonstrates a commitment to being willing to give up something to get something, bringing us to the trade that makes too much sense for it not to happen. (And kudos to Joe and his Cronies, if they’ve already put this in motion!)
Los Angeles receives:
Deandre Ayton
Portland receives:
1 of LA’s two remaining tradeable 1st round picks
Here’s why it makes sense for Los Angeles:
They get a one-year rental in Ayton, who has demonstrated, both in Phoenix and as a Blazer, that he can be a dominant player when he wants to be. If he’s locked in, I could easily see LA winning the title next year. He fits that well into their grand scheme of things next year.
He, too, comes with a big IF, though – WILL he be locked in!? Playing for his next contract and in pursuit of a championship, I should hope so.
But the real beauty of this deal for Los Angeles lies in whether he’s not. This trade has zero downside for them. If Deandre isn’t Domin-Ayton, if he isn’t locked in, they can simply move on after next season and enter free agency in 2026 after LeBron James opts out again and resigns yet another two-year deal with a player option in the second.
Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves could also do the same (not resign for only two years, but play out to resign). This would remove any financial hurdles for LA, making them serious players in free agency at a time when there’s a who’s who of potentially available options. Hoops Hype recently ranked this Who’s Who class of free agents. Ayton is 50th, so the opportunity to upgrade is not without significance.
Feel free to take a gander, if you feel so inclined: https://hoopshype.com/lists/2026-nba-free-agent-rankings-the-best-players-available-next-year/
And now onto the best part, why it makes sense for the Portland Trail Blazers:
Stand up and be counted if you think Portland could get a first-round pick in any trade involving Deandre Ayton. I was and still remain (see: the elephant(s) in the room) very eager to trade Ayton, but even in my wildest dreams, I haven’t been able to fathom netting a first-round pick for him.
The beauty of this trade for the Trail Blazers lies in the leverage it creates. It makes so much for Los Angeles that they’d be foolhardy not to pull the trigger. Thus, if I were the Blazers, I would accept at least a first-round pick.
The Portland Trail Blazers can also trade Deandre Ayton into LA’s cap space without taking back any players, thereby cleaning up their books a bit and clearing the way for Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams III, and their first-round draft pick (Derik Queen, anyone?).
This is the very definition of a win-win trade! Maybe it will even redefine the term, in a similar way that one-sided trades, for a time at least, came to be called Pritch-slaps, which joined the lexicon of the Urban Dictionary as Pritch-slapped.
I’m just spitballing here, but if this trade were to happen, all win-win trades should heretofore be referred to as Rob & Big[s], as a tribute to Rob [Pelinka] & [Joe Cronin, aka] Big. Cronin would undoubtedly deserve the Biggest of ups if he could pull this rabbit out of the hat.
Actually, on 2nd thought, I think I’ll leave the redefining of terms or new additions to the Urban Dictionary to people cleverer than I!
(Also, I want to point out I made it through the whole article without mentioning the Lakers by name. The title notwithstanding. An accomplishment I’m pretty proud of!)
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