Training camp may be approaching, but that doesn’t stop NBA offseason moves from still happening! Saturday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Chicago Bulls are sending Rob Dillingham to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Buddy Hield and cash.
Quite the unexpected blockbuster trade of two former top-ten picks finding new homes this late into the offseason! Okay, this likely doesn’t really matter in the scheme of things, but it would’ve been one of those moves on the margins that would’ve been good for the Portland Trail Blazers to get involved in.
Rob Dillingham’s decline makes Blazers look better for drafting Donovan Clingan
This move shows Dillingham’s stock continues to decline, failing to meet expectations as the No. 8 overall pick in 2024 coming out of Kentucky.
It should make Portland feel even better about their decision to take UConn center Donovan Clingan just one pick prior, who is emerging as one of the best players in the class through two seasons.
The Blazers didn’t need Dillingham then, and they certainly don’t need him now, seeing how crowded their backcourt already is with Damian Lillard and Ja Morant now in the mix.
Not to mention, the concerns surrounding the undersized, defensively limited duo would’ve been even further compounded with the 6-foot-2, 175 pound Dillingham in the mix.
What Portland could’ve used more of, however, is shooting.
Blazers still need more shooting after missing out on Buddy Hield
The fact that the declining Dillingham was all it took to add a reliable shooter in Hield suggests that the Blazers should’ve made this deal instead.
Like Dillingham, Hield’s stock has been declining after a down 2025-26 campaign. Hield totaled 51 games played between the Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, averaging 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in just 16.1 minutes per game. Even his three-point shooting dipped uncharacteristically, as he connected on 34.9 percent of his attempts.
The Blazers dealt with a similarly surprising shooting decline when they acquired sharpshooter Vit Krejci from the Atlanta Hawks at February’s trade deadline. Krejci, a career 39.3 percent three-point shooter, somehow made 30.3 percent of his attempts in 19 games with the Blazers.
With Krejci, the larger sample size and proven track record as someone who has hovered around 40 percent from deep for multiple seasons should give Portland reason for optimism in a resurgent 2026-27 season. The same logic applies to Hield, an even more proven veteran in this league at 33.
Shooting is a premium in the analytically driven modern NBA, making it even more surprising that Portland took its roster in the opposite direction with its Morant trade this summer. They’ll hopefully get better with Lillard returning and Krejci’s positive regression, but this reasonably priced trade for Hield would’ve been nice to get involved in as well.
Heading into training camp, it appears the Blazers are set on bringing in more competition for Micah Potter on the 15-man roster, most recently bringing in NBA Champion Jeremy Sochan. Should Portland bring in additional players, it in all likelihood would be to challenge Potter and now Sochan in the frontcourt.
Even with that decision, floor spacing must be the top priority, which should give Potter the nod in that competition. However, shooting is such a dire area of need that the Blazers should still be open-minded about addressing it even if it’s another backcourt piece, as would’ve been the case with Hield.
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