Earlier today, Portland General Manager Neil Olshey disclosed that he plans to move from the free agent market to the trade market as it appears that Roy Hibbert will be staying put in Indiana. Here's more on the Blazers..
- As the Blazers look for a center who can start without hogging developmental playing time from Meyers Leonard, Jason Quick of The Oregonian (via Twitter) suggests some affordable options for them to trade for including the Hawks' Zaza Pachulia, the Rockets' Patrick Patterson, the Pistons' Jason Maxiell, the Nuggets' Timofey Mozgov, and the T'Wolves Nikola Pekovic (Twitter links).
- Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge doesn't expect the Blazers to match the Timberwolves' offer for Nicolas Batum. Portland doesn't figure to compete in the short-term and tying up roughly $45MM over four-years in the forward wouldn't make sense for the club.
- The Blazers will sign 40th overall pick Will Barton to a guaranteed contract, which is uncommon for a second-round selection, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Blazers owner Paul Allen was pushing Olshey to trade up around pick No. 22 to land the guard but they were able to stand pat and get their man much later.
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I don’t see how the Blazers could offer the Wolves anything worth Pekovic.
Correction: Mosgov is a Nugget.