re: Zach Lowe Expects Pels to be Sellers at Trade Deadline

Covington is an excellent defender, and when he is on the court for whatever team he's playing for, the team is far better than when he's not. And he has a great contract.

This is from today from ESPN article:

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Pelton: The Portland Trail Blazers sending this year's first-round pick (with protection in case they miss the playoffs and win a top-four spot in the lottery) to Minnesota for Covington. The Timberwolves are too far from competing right now for Covington's complementary skill set to help them, but his game and contract ($36 million over this season and the next two) would fit perfectly in Portland next to Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

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If that's all it takes to get Covington, then we should be sending them something like the '21 Lakers 1st and Miller.

This was also thrown out:

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Marks: I am going to circle back to the Nuggets. They have the right mix to get a deal done and not disrupt their chemistry. Would a package of Gary Harris, Malik Beasley, Juan Hernangomez and a future first-rounder be enough to pry Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans? That would give the Nuggets an All-NBA defender to play alongside Jamal Murray and a reliable fourth-quarter presence. It would also put the Nuggets into the luxury tax for the first time since 2009-10.

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I don't think that is attractive enough, but if Jerami Grant is part of it, i'm all for it.
But you see, when Jrue plays like he did last night, i wouldn't want to trade him for almost anyone. He was a nightmare defensively for the Cavs, and when he's hitting his shots, he's easily the best player on the court almost any night b/c of what he does on both ends of the court. I still think Gary Harris can be that 3&D guy we are looking for to play the 1/2 position with Lonzo. he wouldn't have any pressure on him outside of playing hard defense, which he does, and knocking down open 3's at a high rate, which i believe he can do. If you have both he and Lonzo knocking down closer to 40% of their open 3's and also playing good D, that's exactly what we are looking for from those positions to match with Ingram and Zion. Then we just need that final piece, which i think Jerami Grant fits perfectly into along with Jaxson developing his outside shot.

I think that kind of lineup would also put a lot of pressure on Ingram to be the primary ball handler late in games, which i don't have a problem with at all. That next piece we would need is a 6th man that could create his own shot, or shot for others, when needed. maybe NAW can become that guy. I don't trust Lonzo with the ball in his hands with under 7 seconds left on the shot clock. He's just not there yet to be able to create an efficient look when forced by the clock. I have become very confident in him catching and shooting open 3's in rhythm.