Just kidding, this isn’t one of those pieces. Outside of some courtesy phone calls, the Blazers aren’t going anywhere near any of the many free agents expected to get max or near-max contracts. Beyond that, those guys aren’t worth your time discussing. What is worth discussing is what Portland can do with the Mid Level Exception.

Since the Blazers will be over the salary cap once the extensions to LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy kick in, Portland will have the MLE in hand to offer any free agent a contract of up to five years at the league-average salary, which will probably come in a little over $6 million per year. That may not seem like much, but both good and overrated players sign for the MLE every year, and if used correctly it’s a great tool to fill out a rotation with specialists and role players.

It can also royally screw your salary cap situation if you either A. Use the MLE too often or B. Use it to overpay players like Marcus Banks, Chris Duhon or Brian Cardinal.

That said, let’s take a look at some of Portland’s potential options this summer. Clearly, Portland’s strategy in free agency will hinge on the sort of players they get in the draft, so when going down the list, assume we’re talking about each player as though they wouldn’t be overly superfluous with recent picks. As you’ll see after the jump, the primary theme is shooting, shooting, shooting.
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