NBA Trade Rumors: 4 players the Portland Trail Blazers are targeting ahead of the deadline

The NBA trade deadline will close later this week ahead of the annual NBA All-Star Event in North Carolina. It will be the second season in which the deadline closes ahead of the All-Star game, as the deadline was moved forward in order to allow traded players to sort out arrangements for both themselves and their families.

Among the active teams as we head into the trade deadline are the Portland Trail Blazers. The team is looking to make a major playoff push in the Western Conference, and the Blazers are hoping to secure homecourt advantage for a second consecutive season.

The team is likely to add one or two players ahead of the deadline, and here we will look at four of the players that Portland are currently targeting.

#4 Taurean Prince

Taurean Prince was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 12th overall pick in the 2016 draft, and since joining the Hawks, Prince has developed into an effective small forward. So far this season, Prince is averaging 13.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, and Zach Buckley has suggested that the Hawks could make a move for the 24-year-old:

The Blazers don’t have the trade capital to snag a star (sorry, AD dreamers!), but putting their first-round pick in play might deliver a sizeable upgrade on the wing. Taurean Prince has a better combination of shooting, defending and creating than any you’ll find in Rip City.

A trade for Prince makes sense as the small forward is locked in a contract until 2021, and in that time, Prince's salary will only grow to $4.8 million per season. Ultimately, Prince is a player that can make an immediate impact, in addition to having room to develop into a better player.