The Portland Trail Blazers recently extended Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. With their cornerstones now locked in, how does the rest of the cap sheet look?
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are up there with the best guard duos in the league. Though it was an expensive move, locking both of them down with long-term deals means another team cant nab them in free agency. With these two now on the books for at least another four years it’s a good time to look at the rest of the Portland Trail Blazers cap sheet.
This year they have a total salary of $142 million and will be paying a luxury tax bill. This means they are over the NBA’s salary apron and have to pay a penalty tax. They have one roster spot left if they don’t guarantee any of the training camp deals, they may decide to use this to sign someone for the playoffs but can leave the roster at fourteen if they choose. Most of the above is inconsequential for the salary cap moving forward. The main thing to worry about is how much guaranteed salary is on the books for the 2020-21 season.
Currently the cap for next season is $116 million while the Blazers have $91 million of salary on the books for next year. The reason there is such a big drop from this season is that the deals of Hassan Whiteside and Kent Bazemore will be off the books. The only factors affecting this number next year will be the player option of Rodney Hood. Hood’s player option of six million is great value, but if he goes well this year then he is likely to opt out to get a better deal in a light free agency class.
Either scenario is great for the Blazers. At around $25 million in space they aren’t far away from one max salary slot but keep in mind they will be thin on the wing and at center as Whiteside and Bazemore aren’t in this number. Bazemore and Whiteside can be brought back though as the Blazers have their bird rights.
This means they can wait to spend their cap space and then go over the cap to resign them. If Hood opts out then there will be about $31 million in space. This number may be enough to bring in a top class wing to pair with McCollum and Lillard. The key thing to remember with this number is this may be the last year they will have space as McCollum and Lillard’s new deals kick in the following year. They will earn a combined $74 million in 2022.
This will also be the year that Zach Collins will need to get paid. They do have Collins’ bird rights so they can spend their space first and then sign him later and go over the cap. Assuming they decide to hang on to Collins, he will command at least a ten million payday, this will spend almost all their future space.
In summary, next offseason will be a key one for the Blazers. It will be the last season they have significant cap space for the foreseeable future and with McCollum and Lillard firmly in their primes they may look to swing for the fences and bring in a star wing player. There is still a chance moves could be made in the next twelve months to both strengthen the team for now and later. For now we can focus on the comfort of the regular season and keep an eye on the trade market as the deadline nears.