I thought both Afflalo and Nico were playing through some nagging injuries, too.
And yes, Afflalo was more stoked to come here than any player I've ever seen. He was even posting video of himself working out and showing his excitement.
Just because the strategy didn't work out due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, and just because one of the players traded has a good season down the road doesn't make it a bad trade. We are always talking about cashing in on some team needing to obtain a player to get them over the hump (like say, Henderson), and that team trading us a young player with potential to do it. Will Barton was that promising young player, who wasn't providing us with shit at the time, even though he might in the future. That's what you do when you are trying to contend. That's what the Blazers did. It was a good trade at the time.