Shockingly, approximately 12 million words have been spilled about the relatively minor Trevor Ariza for Kent Bazemore trade [not actually shocking].
Several major NBA analysts have highlighted the tax saving element of the trade as a major consideration for general manager Neil Olshey and the Trail Blazers. To wit, John Hollinger of The Athletic had this to say:
With Portland’s announcement that they are open for business, the question is what the Blazers can do now to get themselves under the tax entirely. This is a potentially important consideration, given that they’re likely to either threaten or land in the tax in each of the next four seasons, and thus could face some ugly repeater bills if they’re in the tax this year too.