Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 8:38pm

YOUNG POWER FORWARD ROBINSON DEALT TO BLAZERS

The Portland Trail Blazers acquired power forward Thomas Robinson from the Houston Rockets for the rights to forward Kostas Papanikolaou, power forward-center Marko Todorovic, and two future second-round draft picks.

What does it give the Portland Trail Blazers
This is Robinson's third team since he was drafted No. 5 overall in 2012, so he clearly has to start showing more on the court. That said, Robinson has stellar tools and could eventually replace {P LaMarcus Aldridge} down the road. With {P Jeff Withey} moved and {P J.J. Hickson} on his way out via free agency, Robinson should be a solid backup to both Aldridge and new starting pivot {P Robin Lopez}.

What does it give the Houston Rockets
The Rockets were intent to clear cap space to sign superstar center {P Dwight Howard}, and that's what they did here in moving Robinson to the Blazers. With {P Omer Asik}, {P Donatas Motiejunas}, and {P Greg Smith} also around Robinson obviously wouldn't have seen much playing time, and likely wouldn't have been too happy about that (since he has star-level upside. If Papanikolaou ever makes it to the NBA he can be an excellent role player and energy forward in the {P Linas Kleiza} mold, while Todorovic is still somewhat of a project big man for now.

Fantasy impact
Robinson's fantasy prospects don't change much for now, since he is again stuck in a likely backup role. Additionally, the Blazers give major minutes to their starting five, so Robinson will probably have to really prove himself in practice before getting a chance at even regular reserve rotation playing time anytime soon in Portland. The keeper value of Papanikolaou and Todorovic doesn't change much (since neither seems close to doing much in the NBA for a few years, if at all).