Washington's lead executive maintain the blockbuster deal was a necessary reset, despite the forward’s rise to stardom in Portland. Now, a growing partnership could spark future blockbuster negotiations.
Deni Avdija's breakout All-Star campaign not only helped snap a five-year postseason drought in Portland but also signified that the Trail Blazers could soon be ready to compete in a crowded Western Conference.
Avdija arrived in Portland nearly two years ago when Portland shipped out the draft rights to Bub Carrington, a future first-round pick and Malcolm Brogdon to the Washington Wizards.
The Blazers banked on the idea that the Washington had never used Avdija's skills correctly — and they were right.
But even after Avdija emerged as Portland's franchise face, Wizards president Michael Winger opted against viewing the trade as a blunder.
“No, it was not a mistake,” Winger said via Josh Robbins of The Athletic. “I’m very, very happy for Deni. We’re all very happy Deni. We saw Deni as a very high-level ascending player. (We’re) super-happy for him, super-happy for the Blazers. We’ve got a lot of friends there with the Blazers."
“But, no, because we did it for the reasons we said then, which is to, in effect, take us back a couple years so that we could reset the roster, and everybody was sort of on the same age curve. And Deni’s ahead of that," Winger continued.
While some have argued that, in hindsight, the trade was a fleece, there's reason to believe Portland was involved in one of the rare "win-win" trades in professional sports.
The Blazers found their centerpiece one year removed from sending Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, while the Wizards managed to stay near the bottom of the league in terms of performance to protect the value of their own draft picks.
If Washington somehow botches its first overall pick in next month's draft, then there likely wouldn't be any contention that Portland won the trade.
What may have been even more interesting about Winger's quote — beyond the Deni discourse — is how he ended his statement.
The Wizards have "a lot of friends" with the Blazers? Could that lead to more trade negotiations down the line?
The Avdija deal was just the fourth trade executed between the two sides ever, and first since Portland send Rod Strickland to D.C. for Rasheed Wallace in 1996.
Since Washington is attempting to follow the Oklahoma City Thunder model, it's likely the Eastern Conference up-and-comer will need to trade assets down the line due to all of its future draft capital.
Perhaps, since the relationship has now been established and apparently isn't a new development, we could eventually see the Blazers and Wizards come together in another trade.
