Tomas Satoransky’s expiring and Didi Louzada’s non-guaranteed deals were included, though neither is likely to take the court for Portland
To very badly paraphrase Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Into every NBA trade some salary cap considerations must fall.” Tomas Satoransky’s value lies entirely in his $10 million expiring contract.
Satoransky peaked with the Chicago Bulls in 2019-20 with averages of 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game, but has been in persistent decline since. He played just 15 minutes per game in 32 games for New Orleans, and appears headed back to Europe to finish out his career.
He may be bought out as early as Friday to facilitate that, as may Louzada, who is on a non-guaranteed contract past this summer and hasn’t shown enough to warrant much additional attention.
Longfellow also said that “Youth comes but once in a lifetime,” but it was the fading prime of Lillard and McCollum that brought the urgency that prompted these deals. But a bundle of promising youth did come to the Blazers this week, along with some medium-term stability and salary cap flexibility.
This season had become an unmitigated disaster for the Blazers, with injuries up and down the roster combining with lackluster early-season play from Nurkic and Covington to send Portland plummeting down the standings.
Once Lillard decided to end his season with surgery on a lingering abdominal injury, the road to the top of the lottery seemed the obvious choice, although it meant sending one of the most popular Blazers in team history away.
With one last apology to Longfellow, who posited that “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain,” it is time for Blazer fans to soak in the downpour of mediocrity for a season or two.