The Portland Trail Blazers are in a tricky spot next summer when it comes to their cap space, what key choices need to be made in 2020 free agency?
After a relatively quiet trade deadline where the only moves were a salary dump of Skal Labissiere and the Kent Bazemore / Trevor Ariza trade, the Portland Trail Blazers found themselves saving salary and potentially looking at getting out of the luxury tax in 2021.
There are a few key decisions that will need to be made over the summer and then leading up to the beginning of next season. Not only will they influence the team’s salary but they will directly impact the future of this franchise. This summer is pivotal in how the team is built moving forward.
What do Neil Olshey and co need to iron out prior to the start of the 2021 season?
What to do with Hassan Whiteside
This is the most pressing and important decision of the summer. Hassan Whiteside is a free agent in the summer and as the Blazers didn’t trade him at the deadline, then there is a chance he is re-signed this summer. Whiteside has been a polarizing player in Rip City. He has been one of the best pure shot blockers in the league this season, while also being one of the top five rebounders also. But his inconsistency on defense, combined with inopportune turnovers, means he has been frustrating to watch some nights.
His numbers in the new year have been strong and his on-court play has been improved. The key point to consider though, will he come back next year on lesser deal to back up Jusuf Nurkic? After earning $27 million this year, and leading the league in blocks, it seems unlikely.
Not dealing him at the deadline and then letting him walk for nothing would seem like an unlikely thing to do, but now may be the best course of action. Even though big men have less value in today’s NBA, Whiteside surely wouldn’t want to come back for anything less than $12 million. We don’t believe in playing a backup center anymore than $8 million a year.
The second key point to note is that the Blazers won’t have any cap space unless they renounce Whiteside. This isn’t a major point unless they were to renounce Trevor Ariza as well, if they renounced both of them, they could have $15 million in cap space. If they only renounced Whiteside that would leave them with a miniscule $3 million in cap space.
Which big men to bring back
Between Caleb Swanigan, Carmelo Anthony and Wenyen Gabriel, the Blazers need to make a call on who they would like to bring back. As Rodney Hood and Mario Hezonja are almost certainly coming back, then the Blazers would need a spare roster spot for their first round pick and then it would be smart to have another couple up their sleeve as well.
Wings and guards should be more of a priority this offseason with the return of Nurkic and Zach Collins to full-health. Swanigan has shown some improvements in his second stop in town but he is likely to be expendable. Carmelo would probably be good value if he was to comeback on the minimum but he would have to accept a lesser role.
Gabriel makes the most sense, and has shown that he may be a good project. He can defend the rim and is a good rebounder. Though he hasn’t shown it yet, he has been working on his shooting and was able to knock them down at G-league level. The Blazers probably want to use their other roster spots this year to upgrade the bench. Gabriel is a good start as he will be cheap and is only 22.
Midlevel exception
If the Blazers operate over the cap but under the tax ( this is likely ) then they will have use of the midlevel exception which is around ten million a year over multiple years. It would be huge if they could use this on a player of value who could help the team win now. A three / four combo would be excellent, potentially someone who could defend too.
A strong three who could potentially start or play meaningful minutes while Rodney Hood gets back up to speed would work nicely. Guards and centre’s look good for next year but scoring and size on the wing is of importance. Though next year’s free agent class isn’t strong, there are still a number of targets that could fit well.
These three factors will impact heavily on the future of this team. Whiteside’s future with this team is massive as this will decide if they can stay under the tax or not dependent on a potential payday.
After not making any significant moves at the deadline, Olshey and co have four months to decide the immediate future of this team.