The Portland Trail Blazers roster a smorgasbord of competent NBA centers, including rookie Donovan Clingan, NBA Finals veterans Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III, and floor-spacing, end-of-bench big Duop Reath.
That positional overload has made the Blazers popular candidates to deal a center before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 6. However, as the Ringer’s Zach Kram explained in a trade season deep dive this morning, the NBA isn’t flushed with teams in need of centers or ready to give up much to get one — even if solid bigs are available.
The problem is that the supply of competent centers far outstrips the demand. The replacement level for centers is higher than for any other position, and almost every rotation has at least a decent center or two nowadays. Why trade a haul for another team’s center when he’s not much more effective than the ones already in-house?
Kram’s exploration of the center market included analysis of the scenarios at play for Williams and Ayton. While Williams and Ayton are proven contributors in the NBA, Kram said they come with caveats that make prospective teams less likely to jump at them — a reality for most solid bigs available this season.
Meanwhile, Ayton’s development has gone sideways in recent seasons, and his hefty salary—$34 million this season and $35.6 million for 2025-26—makes him unlikely to move. And it would be difficult for a contender to invest in Williams, given his struggles to stay on the court.
Despite Williams’ health issues, Kram called the trade possibilities for the 27-year-old Blazer intriguing. But again, the lack of demand in the market makes a viable deal hard to identify.
Perhaps the most intriguing trade possibilities for a center involve Williams, whose lack of shooting range means he’s best deployed with a stretch 5 in a two-big lineup, as he was with Al Horford in Boston. Williams could fit on the Knicks, given Towns’s positional flexibility—though New York, like Phoenix, is limited in its trade options by both money and available draft picks. Memphis is another enticing trade partner because Jaren Jackson Jr. can stretch the floor, and a Williams-JJJ pairing would wreak defensive havoc. But the Grizzlies have a lot invested in rookie center Zach Edey, and even with Edey injured, they have a workable big man rotation featuring JJJ, Brandon Clarke, Santi Aldama, and Jay Huff.
Such is the difficulty with using the trade machine for bigs heading into this season’s deadline: Unless a contender’s starting center suffers a season-ending injury, there’s no obvious fit for anyone on the market. Solid, available bigs might not be traded, or, if they are, they’ll likely fetch a less lucrative return.
Kram’s analysis helps explain the report earlier this month from the Stein Line’s Jake Fischer that Reath and his cheap contract have been fielding interest on the market. Reath’s NBA pedigree is less esteemed than that of Williams and Ayton, but in this market, he’s the easiest Blazers center to take a swing on.
