Blazers hand Lakers an embarrassing L + Portland trades for more cap space

The Trail Blazers handed the Los Angeles Lakers a comically embarrassing loss Wednesday night at the Moda Center. Portland rolled out a lineup featuring two two-way players, a second round rookie and minimum contract veterans around Anfernee Simons and still managed to beat LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the mostly whole Lakers. LA Stinks. But the win was entertaining and unexpected even if the Lakers really, truly and completely stink.

Off the court the Blazers made another trade on Wednesday sending out recently acquired Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Tomas Satoransky in exchange for Joe Ingles, Elijah Hughes and a 2022 second round pick. Ingles tore his ACL last month and will likely never play for the Blazers and Hughes is a second rounder on an expiring deal. This trade isn't about the players Portland landed its about the $5 million in cap space the trade created for the Blazers next season. Flexibility remains the name of the game in the Northwest.

Finally, a Haters Guide to tanking. Who to root for, who to root against as we head down the stretch of the season. It's time to start booing CJ McCollum's new team and investing some emotional energy in the Kings.

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