Trail Blazers Free Agency: Who Won the Harkless Deal?

The Trail Blazers ended their prolonged negotiations with Maurice Harkless – who came out on top?

It’s been over a week since the Trail Blazers and General Manager Neil Olshey locked up Maurice Harkless to a new 4 year – 42 million dollar contract. It took a surprisingly long standoff, but the two parties eventually came to terms. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any inside information leaked to shed light on the disagreement, so it’s easy to speculate it wasn’t about anything other than money.

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Was Olshey’s initial offer a slap-in-the-face low ball number or did Harkless over value himself and take a stance? Or perhaps, the predicament was nothing more than a take-it-or-leave-it offer that kept Olshey out of the luxury tax for the time being – a simple case of having your hands financially tied.

The reasons behind the stalemate aren’t important, but what is meaningful is determining who triumphed. The dust has settled, the ink on the contract is dry, so who walked away victorious from the prolonged impasse?

If you’re thinking Olshey was victorious you’re wrong. He was successful in staying within his cap limits but had to overpay for someone not getting any attention from other teams. Harkless receiving exactly what was required to stay under the luxury tax line is very telling. In essence, it implies Olshey gave in and relinquished every last penny he had to get this deal done.

In Olshey’s defense, most people predicted Harkless would receive a substantial raise after his contributions to last year’s playoff run, so getting Harkless on a modest contract (in the new NBA world) looks like a steal. The problem with that is: there were multiple teams left with cap room that could have offered Harkless a significant contract that would have extended the Blazers over the tax line and forced Olshey’s hand.

Mar 26, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless (4) dribbles around Philadelphia 76ers guard Hollis Thompson (31) in the first half at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /

Harkless’ value was obviously lower than many thought at the start of free agency. We’ll never know how high of an offer the Blazers would have matched, but it says a lot that no teams were even willing to submit an offer. Either every team was scared the Blazers would have matched any offer or they valued Harkless at less than the nine million the Blazers had left before the luxury tax.

Harkless could easily claim victory in the post negotiation arena. He was able to secure a contract that he’s happy with by standing his ground (with the threat of signing the qualifying offer) and it worked. The issues facing Harkless if Olshey called his bluff were serious. With limited inquiry for his services there was no guarantee what kind of money he was going to see in unrestricted free agency next year.

Troubling matters more for Harkless’ potential market is the current depth the Trail Blazers possess. It’s going to be more difficult to get the same amount of minutes he earned late last year, so it is likely that his minutes and stats are going to take a hit. Getting 40 million dollars for a castoff player is a major coup, but he may end up in the same position he was in Orlando. Is being the tenth guy in the rotation really worth 40 million dollars? Harkless got paid but it might be the worst thing for his career.

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Olshey and Harkless had their duel, but the real winners of this deal are the Blazer fans. They are getting back a player who was a major component of last year’s success. A player who will continue to entertain with his defense and back-door-cut dunks.

Harkless returning is another piece added to the deepest roster Portland fans have seen in a long time. There should be no drop off in quality of play when the bench unit comes in. All fans love wins over losses and the improved depth should insure that ratio keeps smiles on everyone’s faces.