3 Missing ingredients to the Portland Trail Blazers' rebuild
By Reese Kunz
2. Portland lacks cap space to take on bad contracts
One essential aspect of rebuilding that the Blazers are currently missing is having enough cap space to take on bad contracts. These trades involving bad contracts are typically on expiring deals so other teams can dump them along with picks or promising young assets attached. Instead, the Blazers are doing the complete opposite.
Not only are they well over the NBA’s projected salary cap of $141 million for next season, but they will also be over the $171 million luxury tax line after accounting for their draft picks. This financial situation hampers their ability to take on bad contracts. It also puts them in the position of needing to dump bad, long-term contracts themselves.
Despite their rebuilding efforts, the Blazers recklessly signed Jerami Grant to a five-year, $160 million deal last offseason. This decision was a half-hearted attempt by Cronin and the Blazers to retain Lillard. Grant is a solid player, but he would never be the difference-maker in Lillard's confidence regarding the Blazers' playoff chances.
In other words, retaining Grant would not significantly sway Lillard's decision to stay or leave. A year later, the Blazers are facing the consequences, as Grant's contract negatively impacts their rebuild. The Blazers need to move on from mistakes made last offseason, starting with getting off Grant's contract.
Regardless of who gets moved this offseason, Portland's first financial objective should be to get under the luxury tax, which no 21-win team should ever be over. Then, they can focus on the next step, which should be to have the financial flexibility to take on these bad contracts for more long-term assets to help them as their young core enters their prime.