The Portland Trail Blazers final roster spot: 4 options that could take them over the top

The Portland Trail Blazers will have an open roster spot when the NBA season resumes. Who’s hot, and who’s not when it comes to being potentially signed?

Earlier this season, the term “open roster spot” turned out to be a safe haven for the Portland Trail Blazers, allowing them the opportunity to sign Carmelo Anthony. As the team prepares to go to Orlando next month, they’ll have a chance to potentially find a second needle in the haystack.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks, the NBPA and NBA agreed to allow any player — from Jamal Crawford to DeMarcus Cousins — to be eligible for teams to potentially sign.

Even though there probably aren’t any All-Star caliber guys in the recent free agency pool, the beauty is that the Trail Blazers won’t have to deal with drastic sweepstakes for these players’ services. Only eight teams are going to be eligible to sign these players.

After my mind stopped searching for loopholes to usher in some sort of Dwyane Wade return, the thinking went to what the Portland Trail Blazers actually needed.

Just off sheer observation, the Blazers are still without a clear-cut point guard, opting to either have CJ McCollum spell Damian Lillard and flip between the two, or let score-first sensation Anfernee Simons handle the load.

The need for a proven backup “3” could also be an option. Trevor Ariza’s minutes since the New Year have gone upward — 25.9 to 31.4 to 32.1 and then 34.4 in March — and while he’s been excellent, that’s not a welcoming development for a player who will be 35-years-old when the season resumes, and has 34,943 tracked minutes on his legs. And Mario Hezonja has racked in 10 DNPs since the New Years.

With that backdrop, we can envision a few players that could be worthy of assisting the Blazers in their championship pursuits.