Portland Trail Blazers: 5 valuable veteran free agents to target in 2020
The Portland Trail Blazers will likely have a couple of spots for veteran free agents in 2020. Which 5 veterans could they target in the offseason?
The Portland Trail Blazers will have the mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception,, and the veterans minimum available to sign players in 2020. With a largely young squad outside of Trevor Ariza and Damian Lillard, they need to add some veteran leadership, coupled with defense and maybe some scoring.
The Blazers are at the point in their playoff curve, where they need to add small complementary pieces to maximize Lillard’s superstar status. Lillard needs shooters and defensive players that can make his job easier.
Championship or significant veteran experience should be prioritized, so this team can look to move to the next level. The young contingent will likely grow as they add the 16th pick to Gary Trent Jr., Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, and Zach Collins. Bringing a vet who can mentor these guys and play either a small or significant role make a lot of sense.
There are three levels of vets where we consider the below exceptions.
Midlevel – starting at around $9 million a year, or splitting this over two players
BiAnnual – starting at around $5 million
Veteran’s minimum – the minimum is set based on years of experience, but it will usually be around $2 million.