Portland Trail Blazers: 3 buyout candidates to target after the deadline
By Jacob Dazzeo
If there is one word to describe the Portland Trail Blazers moves at the NBA trade deadline, it’s probably, “meh.”
The Blazers’ front office did a nice job of getting draft capital for Josh Hart, whose expiring deal and likely offseason raise made him necessary to move. They then flipped Gary Payton II for five second-round picks after the acquisition of Matisse Thybulle made him somewhat expendable.
Many fans see the Blazers’ deadline moves as a signal that they won’t be competing for a playoff spot this season. While this may be the case, Portland and general manager Joe Cronin likely did all they could, as they didn’t have the assets to compete for Kevin Durant, and the Toronto Raptors weren’t deadline sellers.
The Blazers also opened up $12,873,410 in hard cap space with extending Jerami Grant an upcoming offseason priority.
With the trade deadline now in the past, Portland can use the buyout market to compete for the play-in tournament and put veteran players around their young stars to improve and potentially go all-in in the next season or two.
The following players are likely buyout candidates that the Blazers should consider attracting by offering more minutes than other teams are able to.