The Blazers remain a solid team in the playoff mix after the roster was reshaped over the past year. They’ll probably be looking to add to the roster but could be limited in doing so.
Portland sits just $67,482 below the luxury tax and while they have been in the tax recently, it doesn’t make sense to pay a penalty for a team that currently projects to be in the play-in. This means they’ll likely only make trades where they take on less salaries or equal at most. They have two trade exceptions worth $6.5 million and $3.3 million that could expire unused because of their tax crunch.
The Blazers owe a first-round pick to the Bulls that is lottery protected through 2028. This could complicate any deal this year where the Blazers want to trade a first-round pick. Teams could agree to take on future first-round picks on the condition that it may not convey if the pick owed to Chicago continues to not convey. With the Blazers currently looking like they’re play-in bound, trading future firsts will be less complicated once the pick conveys, which seems like a good possibility to happen this year.
Portland could be more likely to make significant changes during the offseason. Assuming their pick conveys to Chicago this year then they will have all their own firsts going forward. This could put them in a position to trade for the next available All-Star if they’re willing to put enough picks on the table. Such a deal could put the Blazers deep into the tax next year when factoring in a new deal for Grant.
2023 NBA trade deadline guide: What each team could (or should) do
by Scalmaa
2 Comments
Eric Gordon in that graphic is hilarious.
This is all pretty obvious stuff right?