NBA Trade: Portland Trail Blazers acquire Arron Afflalo

The Denver Nuggets are receiving a package deal that will see Thomas Robinson come to town in exchange for Arron Afflalo heading west to Portland. 

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The first major trade of NBA trade deadline day has arrived, and it’s one of the more expected trades of the season. The Denver Nuggets had been shopping Arron Afflalo this season, despite having acquired him from Orlando Magic over the summer, and they’ve come away with a great deal to ship him off.

There were rumors that the Portland Trail Blazers were going to land Afflalo, but those were rumors met by the same indication coming out of Sacramento and a few other cities.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski from Yahoo! Sports, the Blazers are indeed the team that has landed Afflalo, sending Thomas Robinson back to Denver in the deal.

That’s a massive trade package for just one player, but it’s a bargain for the Blazers who really didn’t value any of the pieces they moved in the deal. Robinson was considered gone before the season even started and the bit parts of Will Barton and Victor Claver aren’t going to hurt the Blazers by going to Denver.

It’s that protected first-round pick that looms large in the trade, but it’s a protected pick which means the Blazers might still be in the clear with this deal. Not only that, they send a second-round pick as well, but picking up the extra player helped even out the deal.

Afflalo is the centerpiece here, but let’s not discount the importance of Alonzo Gee in the deal. He’s a veteran who the Blazers can either use as depth or buyout as part of the trade — a win-win in the eyes of many.

Still, Denver needs to be applauded here for coming away with such a massive package for Afflalo, considering they moved a package this summer to land him in a trade from Orlando. By flipping him now, Denver is acknowledging their lost season but they got decent return — and even a profit — off this trade which means no one can really look down on the Afflalo trade this summer.

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