Portland Trail Blazers: 3 affordable former Blazers to consider signing this summer

Blazer from: 2010-11 to 2014-15

Salary situation: Player Option for 2020 offseason

The way in which Wesley Matthews walked away — or rather limped away — from Portland is still somewhat unsettling. Unsure of if his ruptured Achilles would strip away the better parts of his game, the Blazers left him without a contract extension in the best season of his career.

But as they always say, time heals all wounds. Physically, Matthews is a toner-down version of his prime self, still putting in respectable shooting numbers and great defensive numbers at age 33. That wound has healed. One’s unsure of the emotional hurt from being slighted by Portland in 2015 has mended too, but the Blazers

One way to rewrite a bit of your career arc is to join forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo, arguably the NBA’s strongest gravity pull on this side of Stephen Curry. It’s difficult to say whether or not Matthews would want to leave that, as well as his hometown of Wisconsin, where he’s been a pivotal piece to a potentially-historic Bucks team.

Behind the Buck Pass writer Jordan Treske wrote a fantastic piece on how the situation could play out. Even at his unripe age, players of Matthews’ two-way caliber aren’t a dime a dozen. Teams will be looking his way. It just so happened the allure of playing at home won over this time.

Matthews’ fit on paper feels inspiring, too. He’s been a full-time starter since the start of the decade. In Portland, especially at full health, he’d probably better suited as a reserve, sharing time with the likes of Anfernee Simons and Gary Trent Jr., and helping younger players.

There’s definitely a question as to if Matthews would actually be game for something like that. He enjoyed some of the best years of his career on the same team as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, especially the former. His gravity and ability to get buckets off the catch-and-shoot would be huge, as would his above average ability to prevent players scoring. Players shoot 4.6 percent worse on his overall defense this year.

He’s bound to have a large market with suitors hoping to add a spirited competitor to their roster. With the cards in my hand, I’d play my chance at bringing Matthews back, too.