Portland Trail Blazers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Blazers’ Mario Hezonja Opting In For 2020/21

November 16th, 2020 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers swingman Mario Hezonja will pick up his player option, opting in for the 2020/21 season, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). As a result, Hezonja will forgo free agency until 2021 and will lock in a $1,977,011 guaranteed salary with Portland for the upcoming season.

Hezonja, 25, averaged a career-worst 4.8 PPG in a part-time role for the Blazers in 2019/20. In 53 games (16.4 MPG), he chipped in 3.5 RPG and shot just 42.2% from the field, including 30.8% on three-pointers.

Although he was the fifth overall pick in the 2015 draft, Hezonja has failed to develop into a reliable rotation player in Orlando, New York, or Portland since entering the league. It’s not even a certainty he would have received minimum-salary offers if he had opted for free agency this fall, so his decision to exercise his option comes as no surprise — we’ll see if he sticks with the Blazers or gets included in a trade before the 2021 deadline.

Accounting for Hezonja’s modest salary doesn’t impact the Blazers’ cap outlook in any real way. Portland projects to be an over-the-cap team this offseason.

Rodney Hood, who is coming off an Achilles tear, is the other Blazer who holds a player option for 2020/21. The expectation is that he’ll pick up his $6MM option.

Draft Rumors: Wolves, Edwards, Ball, P. Williams, Hawks, Knicks, More

November 16th, 2020 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2020 NBA draft just two days away, several draft experts are publishing their final mocks of the year, nearly five months after the event was initially scheduled to take place. Jonathan Givony of ESPN, Jeremy Woo of SI.com, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, and Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report are among those who published new mock drafts today. Let’s round up a few of the key pieces of intel from those mocks…

Sources tell Vecenie that the Timberwolves still haven’t finalized a decision on what they’ll do with their No. 1 pick, as they expect “real” trade offers to start coming in during the next couple days. However, Givony and Woo have both heard that most teams around the NBA are operating as if the Wolves will select Anthony Edwards if they stay put.
LaMelo Ball‘s private workouts with teams last week were strong, according to Givony, who suggests that the Warriors were among the teams impressed by what they saw from Ball. Still, Givony and other draft experts view James Wiseman as Golden State’s most likely pick at No. 2.
There has been plenty of chatter about Florida State forward Patrick Williams, whose ceiling is as high as No. 4 to the Bulls, according to both Woo and Givony.
Opposing front offices say the Hawks (No. 6) have been the most active team in trade talks, according to Givony, who says Atlanta could push for an impact player (such as Jrue Holiday or Victor Oladipo) or trade down and pick up another young player.
Sources tell Wasserman that the Knicks (No. 8) appear to be “looking hardest” at Devin Vassell, Isaac Okoro, and Kira Lewis Jr. Sources have also linked Obi Toppin to New York for some time, per Woo, though the Dayton forward is less likely to be on the board at No. 8.
Assuming the Suns keep the No. 10 pick, sharpshooter Aaron Nesmith is thought to be high on their list, says Wasserman.
While the Celtics have looked into packaging their three first-rounders (Nos. 14, 26, and 30) for a mid-lottery pick, interest in that sort of deal appears to be lukewarm, according to Woo, who says Boston may be more likely to make smaller trades with their picks.
Sources tell Wasserman that the Trail Blazers (No. 16) have expressed interest in Serbian forward Aleksej Pokusevski, while Vecenie says Jay Scrubb‘s name is the one he has heard linked most frequently to Portland.
The Bucks‘ pick at No. 24 is one to watch in trade talks as Milwaukee tries to upgrade its roster, writes Vecenie. If they keep the pick, Josh Green is among the options the Bucks are eyeing, per Wasserman.

Blazers Express Interest In Jrue Holiday

November 15th, 2020 at 9:01pm CST by JD Shaw

The Trail Blazers have expressed interest in Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor (Twitter link). O’Connor added that a potential trade between the teams remains unlikely, however, citing Portland’s lack of potential assets to include in an offer.

NBA Sets Estimated Average Salary, Early Bird Exception For 2020/21

November 12th, 2020 at 4:34pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA revealed today that the estimated average salary for the 2020/21 season will be $10,000,000, while the Early Bird exception amount will be $10,047,450, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter links).

The estimated average salary for a league year is defined as 104.5% of the average salary for the NBA’s previous league year, while the Early Bird amount is 105% of the previous average salary. Those figures are important for different reasons.

When a player signs a veteran contract extension, he can receive a starting salary worth either 120% of the final-year salary in his current deal or 120% of the league’s estimated average salary. So, extension-eligible players earning below $10MM in 2020/21 will be able to receive $12MM in the first season of a four-year extension.

As Marks notes, this would apply to players like Trail Blazers wing Gary Trent Jr., Nuggets guard Monte Morris, and Hornets guard Devonte’ Graham. If they want to sign extensions this fall that go into effect in 2021/22, they’d be eligible to receive up to $53.76MM over four years.

As for the Early Bird exception, it represents the starting salary that teams can offer to their own free agents using Early Bird rights, assuming that amount is greater than 175% of the player’s previous salary.

This will apply this offseason to free agents like Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo and Pistons big man Christian Wood. If their own teams want to re-sign them using Early Bird rights, the offers won’t be able to exceed $10,047,450 in year one. In order to offer a higher starting salary, those teams would have to use cap room (which the Pistons will have, but the Lakers won’t).

Because the salary cap isn’t increasing or decreasing for 2020/21, other values tied to the cap will remain unchanged. This applies to the maximum and minimum salaries, as well as the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, as we explained earlier in the week. The tax apron ($138,928,000) and the limit on cash sent/received in trades ($5,617,000) will also be the same in ’20/21 as they were in ’19/20.

Blazers, Heat, Thunder, Wolves Paid Tax For 2019/20

November 12th, 2020 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Just four NBA teams finished the 2019/20 season in tax territory and none of those clubs will be on the hook for a substantial bill. As Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press relays (via Twitter), this season’s four taxpayers, along with the penalties they’ll pay, are as follows:

Portland Trail Blazers: $5,082,084
Miami Heat: $2,461,242
Oklahoma City Thunder: $2,102,278
Minnesota Timberwolves: $497,502

Since half of the luxury tax penalty money is reallocated to the teams that finished out of the tax, those 26 non-tax clubs are in line for modest payouts of $195,060, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Marks notes that the $10,143,106 in total tax penalties represents the lowest leaguewide amount since the NBA introduced its luxury tax system in 2002/03.

While those four teams wouldn’t have been subjected to big tax bills either way, they received a small break from the NBA, according to Marks and Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). The league implemented its anticipated tax adjustment for 2020/21 a year early, reducing teams’ penalties by the percentage that the league’s basketball related income (BRI) fell short of the preseason projection.

As cap expert Albert Nahmad and Shams Charania of The Athletic detail (via Twitter), the NBA ultimately finished with a BRI figure of $6.865 billion after initially projecting $8.034 billion. That means the league only earned about 85.4% of its anticipated BRI and in turn only charged taxpaying teams 85.4% of their tax penalties.

For example, Portland should have owed $5,947,943 in tax penalties, but was only charged $5,082,084. The other three taxpaying clubs received similar reductions.

The Blazers only saved about $866K based on the league’s leniency and the other three clubs saved less than that, but the temporary change the tax system could have a significantly greater impact in 2020/21, when more clubs project to be in the tax and the NBA is bracing for a more substantial loss in revenue.

Lakers Expected To Target Serge Ibaka

November 8th, 2020 at 4:45pm CST by JD Shaw

The Lakers are expected to target veteran forward Serge Ibaka in free agency this year, Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reports, citing league executives.

Ibaka, 31, averaged 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 27 minutes per game for the Raptors last season, proving his worth as a frontcourt option off the bench or as a starter. He holds 11 seasons of NBA experience, making stops with Oklahoma City and Orlando before reaching Toronto via trade in 2017.

Deveney suggests that the Raptors are still probably the favorites to sign Ibaka this fall, but that the big man may be willing to leave for a chance to compete for a championship elsewhere. The Celtics, Clippers, Heat, Mavericks, and Trail Blazers are among the other clubs expected to have interest, per Deveney, though the defending champions could probably give Ibaka the best chance to play for a title.

“From a personnel standpoint, he is exactly the kind of combo big guy that team (the Lakers) needs,” one general manager said. “They have had interest in him before and they will again. When he is healthy he is an excellent spot starter at the 5 (center) and the 4 (power forward). He is as good a bench big guy as there is in the league. He was a really credible 3-point threat last year. If he is willing to accept what the Lakers can afford to give him, I know they would want him.”

The Lakers own a mid-level exception worth $9.3MM, though it’s unclear whether the team prefers to spend it on one player or split it among multiple free agents. L.A. is coming off its first title since 2010 and has several players set to reach free agency, including Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris.

Anthony Davis ($28.75MM), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($8.49MM), Avery Bradley ($5MM), JaVale McGee ($4.2MM) and Rajon Rondo ($2.69MM) also have player options, with Davis expected to re-sign after opting out and Rondo and Caldwell-Pope both likely to decline their options.

The NBA plans to start free agency shortly after the Nov. 18 draft, though exact details remain unknown.

Will Blazers, Gary Trent Pursue Extension?

November 6th, 2020 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

Gary Trent Jr. will become extension-eligible this offseason, and Jason Quick of The Athletic explains why the Trail Blazers will probably consider locking him up in the coming weeks or months rather than risk the possibility of a sizeable offer sheet in 2021 when Trent can become a restricted free agent.

Lowe: Could Blazers Be Suitor For Aaron Gordon?

November 5th, 2020 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

It’s unclear what sort of leaguewide interest there is in Magic forward Aaron Gordon. Lowe points to the Trail Blazers as a potential match, but says the two teams have never seriously discussed a swap involving Gordon and CJ McCollum and isn’t sure whether lesser assets like Zach Collins or Anfernee Simons would appeal to Orlando.

[SOURCE LINK]

It’s unclear what sort of leaguewide interest there is in Magic forward Aaron Gordon. Lowe points to the Trail Blazers as a potential match, but says the two teams have never seriously discussed a swap involving Gordon and CJ McCollum and isn’t sure whether lesser assets like Zach Collins or Anfernee Simons would appeal to Orlando.

Previewing The Blazers 2020/21 Cap

October 28th, 2020 at 9:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Danny Leroux of The Athletic previews the offseason salary cap situation for the Trail Blazers, observing that team president Neil Olshey may have to make decisions on team depth, several veteran free agents on the team, and whether or not to offer a contract extension to fourth-year power forward Zach Collins, who will otherwise become a restricted free agent in 2021.

Derrick Jones May Be Free Agent Target; Carmelo Anthony Might Seek Better Opportunity

October 17th, 2020 at 6:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

Adding free agent forward Derrick Jones Jr. is an easy way for the Trail Blazers to improve their defense, writes Jason Quick of The Athletic. Jones is only 23 and has proven to be an excellent defender who can block shots and switch on pick and rolls. Several teams will likely have their eyes on him, so Quick believes Portland should be willing to offer its entire mid-level exception of roughly $9MM if that’s what it takes to land him.
Carmelo Anthony is looking at a reduced role on a healthier Trail Blazers team next season and will probably search for a better opportunity in free agency, Quick adds in the same piece. Anthony saw a lot of minutes before the hiatus at power forward in place of Zach Collins, who was recovering from shoulder surgery. In Orlando, he filled in at small forward for Trevor Ariza, who opted out of the restart. They’re both expected to be in training camp, along with Rodney Hood, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon last December.