Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Scotto’s Latest: Blazers, Beasley, Patterson, Ennis, More

September 8th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers have 13 players with guaranteed contracts on their roster and have added Dennis Smith Jr. and Marquese Chriss on non-guaranteed deals to vie for one of the team’s open roster spots. However, that competition may end up including more veterans than just Smith and Chriss.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Trail Blazers are eyeing other free agent forwards as possible training camp invitees. Michael Beasley, who played for Portland’ Summer League team, is one possibility. The club is also eyeing veteran stretch four Patrick Patterson, says Scotto.

The Blazers still only have 16 players under contract, which means there are four more spots available on their 20-man offseason roster.

As we wait to see how Portland fills those openings, here are a few more items of interest from Scotto:

Having previously identified the Bulls as one team interested in free agent wing James Ennis, Scotto adds a few more clubs to that list, suggesting that Ennis has also drawn interest from the Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Magic. Ennis, who has spent most of the last two seasons in Orlando, knocked down 43.3% of his three-point attempts in 2020/21.
Another player who has received interest from the Trail Blazers is big man Isaiah Hartenstein, according to Scotto, who says the Clippers have kicked the tires on the former Cav as well. As I detailed on Tuesday, Hartenstein is the only player who is still a free agent after declining an option earlier this summer.
Before he signed with Chicago, Alize Johnson generated interest from a handful of other teams, including the Clippers, Suns, and Knicks, per Scotto. If the Clippers had wanted Johnson badly enough, they could’ve claimed him off waivers using one of their trade exceptions, which wasn’t an option for Phoenix or New York.

Marquese Chriss Signs Non-Guaranteed Deal With Blazers

September 3rd, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

10:00pm: The signing is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

8:53pm: Marquese Chriss has agreed to a non-guaranteed contract with the Trail Blazers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Chriss played in just two games last season with the Warriors before suffering a broken right fibula in practice that ended his season. The Spurs acquired Chriss and his expiring contract in late March, then waived him a few days later.

Chriss has fully recovered from the injury, according to Charania, and will compete for a roster spot. Chriss appeared in 59 games with Golden State in 2019/20, including 21 starts, and averaged 9.3 PPG and 6.2 RPG in 20.3 MPG. He’s entering his sixth NBA season.

Portland has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, with Dennis Smith Jr. and Chriss among those expected to come to training camp on non-guaranteed deals. The Blazers may keep their 15th roster spot open to start the regular season, since they’re slightly over the tax line.

Mizell, Fentress Discuss Possibility Of Sixers/Blazers Trade

September 2nd, 2021 at 6:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer enlisted Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian to discuss whether there’s a Ben Simmons trade between the Sixers and Trail Blazers that makes sense for both sides. Fentress doesn’t expect Damian Lillard to be available anytime soon, but thinks a Simmons/CJ McCollum swap would work if Philadelphia is willing to lower its asking price. However, Fentress does note that some people within the Blazers organization aren’t sure how well Lillard and Simmons would fit together.

Trail Blazers Sign Dennis Smith Jr. To Camp Deal

September 2nd, 2021 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Former lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr. has signed a contract with the Trail Blazers to attend training camp, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). While Wojnarowski doesn’t provide specifics on Smith’s contract details, it sounds like it’ll be a non-guaranteed one-year deal, giving him a chance to compete for a roster spot.

The ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Smith began his career in Dallas and had a promising rookie season for the Mavericks, averaging 15.2 PPG and 5.2 APG as the team’s starting point guard. However, he struggled with his shooting efficiency and was traded to New York in his second season in the deal that sent Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas.

Smith never really found his footing with the Knicks and was eventually dealt to the Pistons in February of this year after spending two seasons in New York. Detroit opted not to issue a qualifying offer to DSJ at season’s end, so he became an unrestricted free agent and took a month to find a new home.

In 179 total NBA games, Smith has averaged 11.8 PPG and 4.4 APG on .400/.316/.652 shooting in 25.2 minutes per contest.

The Trail Blazers currently only have 13 players on guaranteed contracts and will have to carry at least 14 during the regular season, so there’s a path to a roster spot for Smith. However, I’d expect Portland to invite a few more players to camp to compete for that 14th spot. The team, which is now over the tax line, may begin the season with its 15th spot open to avoid paying an extra salary.

Charania’s Latest: Simmons, Markkanen, Blazers, Brooks

August 30th, 2021 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Although the Sixers have told teams they’re comfortable bringing back Ben Simmons for the 2021/22 season, rival executives are skeptical, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who says those execs think it’s just a matter of time before Simmons is moved. All signs continue to point to Simmons’ career in Philadelphia coming to an end, Charania writes.

Still, while the Sixers have held “expansive” discussions with multiple teams, they haven’t gotten close to completing a deal yet. The Timberwolves and Raptors are two teams in the mix for the three-time All-Star, per Charania. However, sources tell The Athletic that the Wolves’ assets may not appeal to Philadelphia and they might need to find a third team to get something done, while Toronto’s proposals haven’t piqued the 76ers’ interest yet.

As has been reported previously, the Sixers’ dilemma is complicated by the fact that they’d love to use Simmons as the centerpiece in a Damian Lillard offer, but the Trail Blazers‘ point guard appears set to open the season in Portland as he continues to evaluate the team’s present and future, writes Charania.

Here are a few more highlights from Charania’s latest article for The Athletic:

Although the Bulls never seemed focused on signing Lauri Markkanen to a long-term deal, the high asking price they set in sign-and-trade negotiations sent a message to executives around the league that they valued him and weren’t willing to lose him for nothing, writes Charania. According to Charania, the second-round pick the Bulls received from the Cavaliers in the Markkanen trade had been a sticking point in negotiations.
Markkanen “fully expected” to be signed-and-traded to the Spurs in the Bulls‘ acquisition of DeMar DeRozan, but Chicago is believed to have pulled him from that package, sources tell Charania.
Before getting involved in the Markkanen deal to acquire Larry Nance from Cleveland, the Trail Blazers had interest in Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks, sources tell Charania. One report suggested that Memphis was willing to listen on inquiries about Brooks.

Trail Blazers Notes: Markkanen, Nance, McCollum

August 28th, 2021 at 6:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Trail Blazers were hoping to acquire Lauri Markkanen directly from the Bulls, but weren’t willing to part with the draft picks that Chicago wanted, sources tell K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Instead, they became a third team involved with the trade that sent the restricted free agent to Cleveland.

Portland offered Derrick Jones Jr. and a lottery-protected first-rounder, which it gave up in the three-team version of the trade, but balked when the Bulls asked for an extra second-round pick. Johnson explains that Chicago is trying to restock its draft capital after giving up three first-rounders in recent deals involving Nikola Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan. The Bulls may also lose picks if they are found guilty of tampering in an investigation regarding Lonzo Ball.

There’s more from Portland:

Larry Nance Jr. shared his thoughts about leaving the Cavaliers in a first-person piece on Cleveland.com. Nance says he asked Cleveland general manager Koby Altman to send him to a contender if he could work out a deal that would benefit the team as well. “Going to Portland is something that I am extremely excited about,” Nance wrote. “This is a team that has seen the biggest stages and is hungry for more, and I’m thrilled that they believe I can help them climb higher. This opportunity is one that I’m very ready to take advantage of and I have the Cavs to thank for preparing me for it.”
Adding Nance makes the Trail Blazers the winner of the three-team deal, contends Nekias Duncan of Basketball News. Duncan calls Nance “destructive” as a help-side defender and says he will help the offense as a screener and cutter.
In an appearance on J.J. Redick‘s “Old Man and the Three” podcast, CJ McCollum says he feels like he let down backcourt partner Damian Lillard in Game 5 of the playoff series with the Nuggets (hat tip to Marlow Ferguson Jr. of Blazer’s Edge). Lillard had 55 points and 10 assists, but Portland still lost in double overtime. “I have a full summer understanding what we went through, understanding how I performed at the beginning of the season, middle and the end, and I know how I need to perform for us to have success,” McCollum said. “Obviously, I want to win a championship. I have dreams, goals, aspirations, that’s the priority. But for any of that to happen, I need to be the best version of myself, and I have to be a version of myself that most of the world hasn’t seen. You talk about that irrational confidence again, and it’s still here.”

Cavaliers Acquire Lauri Markkanen In Three-Team Sign-And-Trade

August 28th, 2021 at 5:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

AUGUST 28: The trade is official, the Cavaliers announced in a press release.

“We are extremely fortunate as an organization to be in a position to acquire another young and talented player with the skill-set of Lauri Markkanen,” said Cleveland general manager Koby Altman. “He has the proven ability to play multiple positions and stretch the floor from the perimeter and, at 24-years-old, we believe his best basketball is in front of him. We are committed to establishing a winning culture in Cleveland that can be sustained over time and Lauri helps elevate that description.”

AUGUST 27: The Cavaliers will acquire Lauri Markkanen from the Bulls in a sign-and-trade deal that also includes the Trail Blazers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Portland will receive Larry Nance Jr. in the deal, according to Wojnarowski, and will send Derrick Jones Jr. and a 2022 protected first-round pick to Chicago. The Bulls will also get a Nuggets 2023 second-rounder from Cleveland.

The trade ends a long wait for Markkanen, who had been looking for a new team since free agency began on August 2. He will receive a four-year, $67MM contract from the Cavs, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link), and the Bulls get the first-round pick they were seeking in return for the 24-year-old restricted free agent. That pick from Portland will be lottery protected through 2028, Woj adds (via Twitter), and will become a second-round selection if it’s not conveyed before then.

Markkanen’s four-year contract is valued at $18MM in the final season, but only carries a $6MM guarantee, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).

The deal leaves the Cavs $4.7MM under the luxury tax with 14 players under contract, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. The Blazers are $1.3MM above the tax threshold with 13 players signed and will likely be $3MM over once they add a league-mandated 14th player. The Bulls are $6.4MM under the tax and $11.8MM below the hard cap with 13 guaranteed contracts, Marks adds (Twitter link).

Markkanen’s outgoing salary only counts as $7.79MM, rather than the full amount, due to base year compensation rules, Marks notes (via Twitter). Chicago had hoped to get a player in the $9-10MM range, which it did by acquiring Jones. Markkenen’s incoming salary from the Cavs’ perspective will be the full amount of $15.58MM.

Markkanen fell out of Chicago’s starting lineup last season for the first time in his four years in the NBA and played a career-low 25.8 minutes per night. His averages of 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game were all the worst of his career.

He had been hoping for a “fresh start” and will get it in Cleveland, where he will likely be the new starting power forward. The trade allows the Cavs to solidify a position of need and gives rookie big man Evan Mobley more time to develop.

Nance, 28, is under contract for two more year at $10.69MM and $9.67MM. He averaged 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season and will bring a defensive presence to Portland’s front line. New coach Chauncey Billups has spoken repeatedly about the need to upgrade the team’s defense.

Jones, 24, has an expiring $9.72MM contract for the upcoming season. He averaged 6.8 points and 3.5 rebounds in 58 games last season and adds another versatile forward to Chicago’s rotation.

Central Notes: Nance Jr., Markkanen, Love, Theis, Allen

August 28th, 2021 at 9:30am CST by Dana Gauruder

Larry Nance Jr. wasn’t surprised that the Cavaliers agreed to trade him in the unofficial three-team deal that will bring Lauri Markkanen to Cleveland, according to Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Nance was concerned about his role and playing time with the addition of lottery pick Evan Mobley. Cleveland’s front office had discussed the possibility of moving him to a contender where he might have a bigger role.

He’s happy that he’s going to the Trail Blazers, where he’ll play with Damian Lillard and close friend CJ McCollum. If the Blazers eventually go into rebuild mode, Nance can leave as an unrestricted free agent during the summer of 2o23, Fedor adds.

We have more from the Central Division:

In the same story, Fedor writes that the Cavs tried hard to trade for a wing shooter, dangling Nance, their 2022 first-round pick and, in some instances, a package of second-rounders. The Cavs couldn’t find the right deal and eventually turned their attention to a stretch four in Markkanen, who they hope can provide an offensive jolt.
The Cavaliers are denying they’re engaged in buyout talks with Kevin Love, according to Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A source told Pluto that progress was being made toward a buyout, which makes sense for both parties, the writer notes.
The Bulls received $1.1MM from the Rockets in the Daniel Theis sign-and-trade, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tweets. The deal also generated a $5MM traded player exception.
The Bucks received $1MM from the Grizzlies in the Grayson Allen deal, Pincus adds in another tweet. Memphis acquired Sam Merrill and two second-round picks.

Northwest Notes: Green, Timberwolves, Lore, Snyder

August 27th, 2021 at 8:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JaMychal Green drew interest from a number of teams during free agency, Mike Singer of The Denver Post reports. Green caught the attention of the Timberwolves, Pelicans, Sixers, Spurs and Bucks. Minnesota even considered a possible sign-and-trade for the veteran forward, who opted to re-sign with the Nuggets on a two-year, $17MM deal.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Timberwolves had some level of interest in all of the forwards involved in the unofficial three-team trade among the Bulls, Cavaliers and Trail Blazers, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. They had early interest this summer in restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen, who’s headed to Cleveland in the sign-and-trade, but Chicago didn’t seriously engage them in trade discussions, Wolfson adds. Minnesota had strong interest last year in Larry Nance Jr., who’s going to Portland, and Derrick Jones Jr., who’s joining the Bulls.
Marc Lore, who along with former baseball star Alex Rodriguez has assumed 20% of the Timberwolves franchise with plans to eventually become the controlling owners, believes he can sell top free agents on coming to Minnesota, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. “When players or people say, ‘Hey, it’s a small market, we’re never going to get any of the big free agents,’ — well, if they share a similar set of values maybe they will (come),” Lore said. “If you really stand for something, and they’re passionate about the same values, then they’re like, ‘No, I’ve seen it. I’ve heard about it. I want to be a part of that.'”
Jazz coach Quin Snyder isn’t likely to tinker too much with his lineups and rotations this coming season, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News speculates. Snyder isn’t the type of coach who does a lot of experimentation but he will play to the strengths of his personnel and there are some new faces, so that will require some flexibility, Todd adds.

Blazers Notes: Powell, Lillard, McCollum, Nurkic

August 26th, 2021 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

Examining the Trail Blazers‘ plans going forward, Dan Devine of The Ringer suggests there are a few reasons for optimism in Portland. The team’s late-season addition of Norman Powell made an already strong offense even more potent, and the Blazers re-signed Powell to a long-term deal this summer. New head coach Chauncey Billups could also make an immediate impact and push the club harder on the defensive end, where improvement is necessary.

Still, Devine acknowledges that the Blazers didn’t exactly swing for the fences with their offseason moves, noting that there are a a lot of caveats and “maybes” in play when discussing their potential upside.

Here’s more out of Portland:

Asked during an Instagram Live appearance whether he intends to leave Portland, Lillard replied, I’m not leaving PDX. Not right now at least” (video link via Landon Buford). Those who believe Lillard wants to stay will likely focus on his assertion that he’s not going anywhere, while those who think he wants out will probably zero in on the “not right now” portion of his response. I wouldn’t read too much into it either way — it sounds like Lillard was supplying a fairly generic answer while leaving all his options open for the future.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report spoke to new NBPA president CJ McCollum about whether he believes the Blazers are capable of winning a title, teams’ free agency spending, and a handful of other topics. “I think whenever we step on the court, we have a chance to win a championship. If you don’t have that mindset and that mentality, then you shouldn’t play,” McCollum said of the Blazers. “… I feel like every year we have a chance to win a championship. But in the NBA, there’s so many things that go into that. You need a little bit of luck.”
In the latest HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto and Yossi Gozzlan discussed the Blazers’ offseason, with Scotto noting that president of basketball operations Neil Olshey is going “all-in” on Billups and will either “sink or swim” with that head coaching hire. Scotto also suggested that McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic need to step up and play some of their best basketball in 2021/22 to give Portland a chance to contend.