Norman Powell will most likely get his largest offer from the Trail Blazers
There are people who think that trading for a player in his contract year is a bad decision. Anyone who would apply that line of thinking to the Powell trade though, is dead wrong. For one, the Blazers wouldn’t have been able to afford Norm in free agency. More importantly, trading for him at the deadline granted the Blazers his “Bird-rights.” The NBA defines this exception:
"A team may re-sign its own free agent to a contract with a first-year salary of up to the maximum player salary if he played for the team for some or all of each of the prior three consecutive seasons (or, if he changed teams, he did so by trade or by assignment via the NBA’s waiver procedures during the first of the three seasons)."
This important piece of literature means that the Portland Trail Blazers have the option to give Norman Powell up to a maximum contract. While there’s slim chance he earns max money, it does mean that the Blazers can match and exceed any other offers that wind up on Powell’s table this summer.
With the situation the Blazers are in now, re-signing Norman Powell gives them their best chance of continuing their pursuit of a championship. Portland should not hesitate to trump any deal Powell may draw this offseason. If they do, they can all but guarantee he’ll return to Rip City.