14 Trades Involving Kenneth Faried and a Western Conference Team
By Tim Hart
Portland Trailblazers
Trade Machine Results: Nuggets Unaffected, Trailblazers +1 Wins
The Trade Machine suggests that this deal favors the Trailblazers. However, it also suggests balance, which could pay off for both teams.
Why the Trailblazers would do it:
The Trailblazers have suffered recently in bench-play. The acquisition of Sampson and Toupane would give them more depth, and therefore more bench-options. They may not be able to eliminate Portland’s woes all together, but they should be able to help.
Swapping out Faried for Davis would give Portland a slight edge. The two power forwards have a very similar game. However, Faried has more experience, reliability, and productive potential. Giving up Aminu would abandon their current small-ball line-up. Still, they could easily adapt it to involve Faried. Aminu has never been a dead-eye shooter, and contributed best when he was grabbing rebounds. This is where Faried could help improve upon Aminu’s play in Portland’s 4-spot.
This would be a low-risk trade that could help the team out. After last year’s playoff run, this trade could even make them a contender for the conference title. This isn’t likely, but the trade should still be considered.
Why the Nuggets would do it:
The Nuggets could use Aminu they same way that Portland did. Going small-ball with Arthur and Aminu splitting the PF spot could work out well for the Nuggets. The floor would be spread, and Emmanuel Mudiay would have more space to work with.
Then, incase Faried’s play was missed, Ed Davis would be acquired as a safety net. He is pretty much capable of replacing Faried at a fraction of the cost. For the Nuggets, this would allow Aminu’s signing to barely hamper their cap-space at all.
Like the Trailblazers, this would be a very low-risk trade for the Nuggets. They too could benefit from its consideration.
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