Report: Trail Blazers Eye 'Unquestionable' Rotation Player Via Buyout And Trade Markets
The Trail Blazers enter the season's second half with an open roster spot and the trade deadline just two weeks away. Portland will already be getting a major influx of talent due to the imminent returns of C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, too.
According to Jason Quick of The Athletic, though, Neil Olshey isn't content to finish the season with his team's roster as currently constructed.
A source says Olshey is eyeing both the buyout market and the trade front to fill the Blazers’ final roster spot with a player who will “unquestionably be in the rotation for the remainder of the season."
The Blazers currently have 14 players under contract, and are approximately $2 million below the luxury tax. They could sign any player who agreed to buyout terms with his former team for the remainder of the season at a contract for the prorated veteran's minimum.
But just as Blake Griffin saw a better fit with the Brooklyn Nets, other possible buyout candidates like Al Horford, Wayne Ellington and Trevor Ariza could surely find better opportunities for playing time with a team other than Portland. George Hill would be an ideal positional and stylistic fit for the Blazers, but the Oklahoma City Thunder would rather find a trade destination for him before March 25 instead of resorting to a buyout.
Portland is one of 20 teams in the NBA who would love to add a two-way wing before the deadline. It's unclear which players who are realistically available fit that description. Even if a player of that ever-valued ilk was suddenly put on the trade block, the Blazers' lack of both financial wiggle room below the tax and worthwhile draft assets makes landing him in an inevitable bidding war seem impossible.
Harrison Barnes, for instance, would be a fantastic fit in Portland. Would a package of Rodney Hood, Nassir Little and a pair of second-round picks really be enough for the Sacramento Kings? Given increasing interest in Barnes across the league, it's safe to assume no.
Maybe Olshey, somehow, has an ace up his sleeve. There's always the very far off chance he's finally relented on a longtime refusal to include McCollum in trade talks, too.
But far more likely than the Blazers adding a significant piece to the rotation via buyout or trade is that they simply stand pat, or make a more minor move to clean up their cap sheet. Hood, remember, is on a non-guaranteed contract for next season; teams with cap space could absorb his $10.5 million deal without having to send back matching salary. Would a second-round pick be enough of a sweetener? Maybe.
It's that type of deal Portland fans should be anticipating. Any expectations otherwise are bound to be met with disappointment, no matter what murmurs from the Blazers' perpetually optimistic front office suggest.
[h/t Jason Quick, The Athletic]