I was listening to a podcast over the weekend and someone mentioned that the Blazers can't trade their 1st round picks from 2021 to 2027 at this time due to the restrictions placed on the deal with Houston for Covington. Is that correct? I know the pick is top 14 protected and until this season is over, we can't trade the pick as it is Houston's, unless we have a top 14 pick. Then the pick would move to the following year and so on until 2027, when if it were not to transfer, it would become a 2nd round pick. My wondering is, can teams change the protections after the trade is made before the end of the year the trade is made. In other words, could Portland and Houston rework the agreement? If not, then this really seems to hamstring the Blazers at this time for making any trades that could include a future 1st round pick and a screwup for Olshey in looking to make future deals to make the team better.
