Portland Trail Blazers.
Neil Olshey, Portland Trail Blazers General Manager.
In recent weeks, it happened in the NHL. It was supposed to happen in MLB. Now it’s the NBA’s turn to execute its own version of the free-agent frenzy. Where do the Portland Trail Blazers fit into the mix?
That depends. The Portland Trail Blazers are set at four of five starting positions, point guard Damian Lillard, shooting guard CJ McCollum, center Jusef Nurkic, and small forward Robert Covington. The first thing they need to do is assess how they feel about “power” forward Zach Collins who is recovering from an ankle injury. Is he the 3-and-D threat that earned him a 10th overall pick out of Gonzaga in 2017? Or is he an injury-prone big that will never be more than a seven-point, six-and-a-half rebound average role player who can knock down the occasional three-point shot? At this point, he looks more like choice B than choice A.
No matter what role the team sees Collins in, they are dreadfully thin in the frontcourt. The chances of Hassan Whiteside returning to Rip City in 2020-21 are very slim. It’s the same with Rodney Hood, who opted out of his $6M player option for the upcoming season. After Friday’s trade, that leaves only Enes Kanter and Nassir Little on the bench. Portland needs bodies up front.
Contrary to popular belief, the Portland Trail Blazers have some financial flexibility. Among the tools they have to work with are a $9.3M mid-level exception and a $3.6M bi-annual exemption. They can also use a $7.1M trade exception, meaning they can add that much salary by accepting a traded player. The last exemption puts “sign and trade” scenarios on the table.
What they can’t do is take on a big-money contract. Any dreams of signing Serge Ibaka, Anthony Davis, Danilo Gallinari, or Gordon Hayward as free agents are just that, dreams. In reality, Portland can add some very good players to a strong core and make a push to win a division title and push for the Western Conference top seed.
Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers.
Off the top, there are two internal free agents Portland can lockup rather quickly and inexpensively. Carmelo Anthony resurrected his career last season with the Blazers. He stated several times that he likes Portland and wants to finish his career with the Trail Blazers.
Anthony is 36-years-old and nowhere close to his prime. However, he is someone who contributes on both ends of the floor as well as nailing clutch threes. Melo knows the deal; he wants the one thing he doesn’t have, a championship ring. The Portland Trail Blazers give him a good shot at it, so he’ll play for close to the veteran minimum as he did last season.
Wenyen Gabriel is not a household name outside of Portland, Oregon. Blazers fans know that when called upon to step up in the bubble, he did just that. The 6-9 Sudanese power forward via the University of Kentucky plays hard and knows his role. As a restricted free agent, Gabriel doesn’t have much bargaining power. He’ll get a very modest raise over the $1.75M earned last year to be the team’s ninth or tenth player.
As mentioned earlier, Whiteside and Hood likely aren’t coming back. The fates of Moses Brown, Caleb Swanigan, and Jaylen Hoard are undecided. It’s debatable whether or not Portland might be better off by replacing the end of their bench with other players.
Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz (Photo by Frenchieinportland, via Wikimedia).
Some Blazers fans got excited over rumors of Robin Lopez resigning with the team. Aside from the confusing RoCo and RoLo on the same team, Nurkic does the same thing Lopez does and at this point, much better. Should Collins become more of a role player, it’s better for Portland to go in a different direction.
Also, out of the picture is the plethora of available guards on the market. If the bubble showed the Blazers anything, it’s that Dame, C.J., and Gary Trent Jr. make for a great backcourt trio. Additionally, Anfernee Simons continues to improve. Unless the Blazers make a trade, no free agent worth anything will sign with Portland to be the team’s fifth guard.
There are some players who will get a little more money but the Portland Trail Blazers would excel with them in the lineup. To land any of them might take some creative cap maneuvering.
Favors will make nowhere near what he did on his last deal. He’s exactly the kind of hard-nosed glass monster the Blazers need. New Orleans was a much better team with him on the court than they were with him on the bench. If Favors could play alongside Zion Williamson, he should be able to play with Nurk.
At almost 36-years-old and down to less than 30 minutes per game, Milsap has to know this is the end of the line. He’s the perfect player to alternate with Collins. Would Milsap be willing to take less to play for a contender? Probably so.
An excellent defender who can cover almost any position on the court, much like Covington. Grant doesn’t take many threes, but when he does, he can bury them. The forward declined a $9.3M option, so he’s looking for a raise. If Portland does land Grant, it will be part of a sign-and-trade.
Alex Len, Phoenix Suns (Photo by Gobierno CDMX, via Flickr).
Len battled through several injuries last year, which limited him to only 15 games. He’s a throwback to an earlier era when teams looked to get the ball inside first. Even though he isn’t a great fit in the modern NBA, Len can be an effective backup center due to his defense and rebounding.
Much like Rodney Hood, he walked away from a $5M guarantee for next season. A very odd decision in this market, and considering the Clippers have a very good team. Green is a journeyman who can eat minutes, defend and play tough on the boards, not to mention nailing some treys along the way.
An ideal backup center, Noel’s been a productive player for several years in mostly limited minutes. He’s a good on-ball defender averaging 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks over a six-year career. Athletic and active, Noel has a tendency to get out of defensive position. Still, he’s only 26-years-old and has plenty of mileage left, and time to improve.
Giles is a bit of an enigma. He’s certainly a talented player but never reached his full potential in Sacramento due to injuries. After declining nearly $4M to stay in Sac-town, Giles is unrestricted at 22 years-old. He’s certainly young enough to turn his career around. Giles was a Trail Blazer for a microsecond. He was part of the draft trade that brought Collins to Portland.
A bargain basement pickup. Undrafted out of Oregon State, he proved to be useful on both defense and the boards for San Antonio while in the bubble. Eubanks will be very inexpensive but also comes with some confidence that he can contribute on a good team.
Which free agents do you think the Portland Trail Blazers should sign? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.