NBA Rumor Two: Nerlens Noel To Portland Trailblazers
This one recently was reported in an ESPN summary by Marc Stein. In an article where the reader must fill in the blanks, Stein does a nice job of placing the jigsaw pieces at the readers’ fingertips, but never forces the trade scenario.
In item six, he visits the status of the Portland Trailblazers, and lists a series of meaning player assets on the roster:
"6. Portland is the surest team to make a trade this season. The Blazers have an aggressive front office and more wings (Allen Crabbe, Evan Turner, Moe Harkless) and bigs (Mason Plumlee, Meyers Leonard and Festus Ezeli) than they need. So keep an eye on them. The suspicion among numerous league observers is that the Blazers’ non-stop spending this past offseason was asset collection as much as anything. Scan through all those names again and it’s clear Portland has no shortage of options to thrust itself into all kinds of trade talks as GM Neil Olshey continues to shape the roster around backcourt bedrocks Lillard and C.J. McCollum."
He then lists Nerlens Noel as a player likely to be dealt this year.
We know the Philadelphia 76ers are 0-2, and the team must be disappointed in the play of wings Gerald Henderson and Robert Covington so far. Could the team target one of the Trailblazers wings in a trade scenario? We know that the team was interested in Alan Crabbe in the offseason. The way the team has started the 2016-2017 season would only heighten that interest. Crabbe is currently scoring 13.3 points per game, which would place him as the second leading scorer on the 76ers.
Keep an eye on this one.