Since the 1999-2000 season, the Portland Trail Blazers have lasted past the first round of the Western Conference playoffs just once -- in 2013-14.

This year, their playoff hopes are quite secure (our algorithms give them a Adrian Wojnarowski.

The real question, though, is whether this deal actually makes the Blazers better.

Lets dig into the numbers and find out if it does.

Blazers without Afflalo

Prior to the trade, the Blazers secured a record of 36-17. They are also considered the seventh-best team in the NBA according to our one of only five players this year to average at least 32 minutes per game and secure fewer than 0.053 wins per 48 minutes.

Ultimately a Wash

Portland traded away just 767 combined minutes in the trio of players sent to Denver. Afflalo has played 1,750 this year so far, to underwhelming effect.

Depth is certainly something the Blazers shore up with this move, as Afflalo can definitely play as many minutes as he'll be offered in the rotation. However, expecting him to return anything significant is overly optimistic, based on the numbers. Afflalo has secured a positive nERD score in just two of his seven full seasons, and his career average of -0.3 indicates he's little more (well, actually, a little less) than a replacement-level talent in the NBA.

This move should undoubtedly help the Blazers secure a more solidified rotation, but even Afflalo's offense (he ranks just 39th in effective field goal percentage among the 62 players attempting at least 12 field goals per game) in limited quantities likely won't help the Blazers make the next step.

It's not necessarily a step backward, but the already solid Blazers don't exactly get better with this swap, and that speaks to the quality of their roster.