The Portland Trail Blazers currently have 13 players under contract for next season, accounting for Matisse Thybulle's $11.6 million player option. However, they are still a team to keep an eye on, as this could be a busy offseason in Rip City.
They are over the salary cap, but their rookie scale and team-friendly deals make them well below the luxury tax, meaning they could shake up their roster via free agency or trade.
This will be one of newly extended GM Joe Cronin's most challenging offseasons to navigate as he could take this Blazers roster in several directions. But at the center of every tough decision, the priority should be building around their young core.
Dalano Banton
After acquiring Dalano Banton from the Boston Celtics for virtually nothing, the Blazers made the right decision to pick up his option last summer.
Banton had an increased role in 2023-24 due to the Blazers' injuries and made the most of his opportunity. This season was an extended audition to see if he should truly be considered a long-term part of their young core, and he, unfortunately, fell short.
The main hesitation with picking up Banton's option was that his skill set as a guard who isn't an efficient shooter or a pass-first player is better suited in a high-usage, lead-guard role. That wasn't the role he had with a healthier Blazers roster, and this season proved that concern valid. It's precisely why the Blazers should let him walk as an unrestricted free agent.
Portland would be better off finding a veteran, more traditional pass-first guard to help mentor Scoot Henderson and improve the Blazers' offense, which was too stagnant at times.
Jabari Walker
Jabari Walker is a restricted free agent, and you could make a stronger case to keep him compared to Banton. Walker, 22, is three years younger, suggesting there's more untapped potential. The numbers indicate he's already a more reliable shooter, improving his three-point percentage from 29.5 to 38.9.
Additionally, he plays a position of need and provides shooting, contagious energy, rebounding, and general ability to impact winning without needing the ball -- a valuable trait for a role player.
But the unfortunate reality is that Portland doesn't have many available spots on its roster. They already have 13 players under contract without accounting for any draft picks or free-agent acquisitions, making Walker the odd man out in order to make room for higher ceiling upgrades.
Jerami Grant
Leading up to February's trade deadline, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report rated the likelihood that Jerami Grant was traded a seven out of ten. Of course, the Blazers were one of the only teams to stand pat at the deadline, but the point remains -- the Blazers are motivated to get off of Grant's contract.
His age, declining play, and questionable contract make Grant the most obvious player to be moved this summer, at least from Portland's standpoint. As Highkin more recently put it, "It will be tough for the organization to spin it as a positive if Jerami Grant is still on the team going into training camp."
The Blazers should want to trade Grant to give themselves more financial flexibility and clear the path for their young core, but it could also be in Grant's best interest as well.
Here's what Highkin wrote on the matter: "I'll say this: Grant is a pretty go-with-the-flow guy, as far as his personality, so I don't see him making it a problem or distraction if he isn't starting. But there's no way that's what he wants, which is another reason the best solution this summer for all parties is to find a trade."
If Portland's timeline -- or, more importantly, his contract situation -- were different, it would make more sense to keep Grant around. However, the breakout campaigns from both Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija make Grant much more expendable.
He's either taking a starting role away from Shaedon Sharpe or Henderson, or the Blazers are paying him $160 million to come off the bench. Of the two options, the latter is the lesser of two evils, but ideally, the Blazers won't have to choose.
They need to get off of Grant's contract, but finding a trade partner will be the only thing potentially getting in the way of making this a reality.
Grant's inefficient season won't make things any easier for the Blazers, who waited too long to trade him. But hopefully, they'll find a desperate contender -- short on trade assets but eager to add a 6-foot-7 wing who can reliably space the floor -- willing to overlook his contract.
If his trade likelihood was a seven out of ten at the deadline, it could rise even higher in the summer, when more teams have cap flexibility and more moving parts to work with.