Trade season officially began for the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, when they seemingly punted on the season by shipping out Kent Bazemore and Anthony Tolliver (as well as two future draft picks) in exchange for the meager return of Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel, and former Blazer alumnus Caleb Swanigan.
It appears the primary intention of this deal was to cut a significant portion of Portland’s luxury tax bill. While the organization only shed $2.5 million in actual payroll, the Trail Blazers are set to dodge a bill of over $10 million in luxury tax fines by making this trade.