that was about 5 CBA's ago. Rules were different back then. A 6-for-1 trade 3 weeks before a season begins would be next to impossible to complete now
but yeah, then there was Paul Allen totally willing to spend money and pay tax with trader Bob as the GM. That's a night and day difference from Jody & Joe
but a big reason why the Blazers can't swing for the fences like this is that Knicks/Wolves trade was exchanging two players who combined for 7 all-star games and 4 all-NBA selections. The Blazers don't have anybody close to value like that; not after trading Dame