5 targets for the Orlando Magic’s massive trade exception

5 targets for the Orlando Magic’s trade exception

Larry Nance Jr., Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are in a tricky spot.

They probably feel like they can still be a competitive team very quickly so long as Damian Lillard is on their team. They are the team this year that is having the injury season that sends them down the standings. At the very least, Portland is looking at the soft reset.

The Blazers have some good players — besides Damian Lillard, guards CJ McCollum and Anfernee Simons are extremely positive. They just rely a ton on Lillard and have botched some free agent signings to give them the cushion they need to take their next steps.

At 20-28, the Blazers are still in the Play-In Tournament. They are not completely in a spot to pack it in this season. But the Blazers should be looking toward the future. And planning how they might be able to make some moves.

It might help to shed some salary, grab a trade exception and get under the luxury tax line.

The Blazers currently are $3.0 million over the tax line. The best bet they would have to acquire a big-time player in the future would likely be a trade exception. And so shedding the salary of a player like Larry Nance Jr., while also acquiring a second-round pick and a trade exception for his salary might prove valuable as they try to retool around Lillard.

The Magic likely are not looking for long-term pieces or to take on much long-term money. But a decent-sized swing at one would not be completely crazy.

Nance is struggling in his first year with the Blazers as he has dealt with several knee injuries throughout the year.

He is averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 23.2 minutes per game. That has been slightly below his averages from his days with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Nance has an additional year left on his contract at $9.7 million. So the Magic would be taking some of their cap room for next summer to spend on this kind of a flyer. But it could prove to be an interesting experiment to add some athleticism and versatility to the backup center or forward spot.

Especially if Nance can get healthy again.

The chances of this are pretty low. Nance may not be the right guy to take that kind of a risk on — especially with another financial decision to make in the summer of 2023. It would have to occur in tandem with some other moves.

But spending a second-round pick — something the Magic rarely use anyway — and grabbing a pretty solid reserve player even just for next year would not be the worst thing in the world either.

This would be an aggressive move. But maybe the Magic need to think more aggressively to improve their roster in the short term.