Trail Blazers Rumors

Teams Lining Up For No. 3 Pick If Kings Pass On Doncic

The Mavericks, Magic, Bulls, Knicks, and Clippers have expressed interest in moving into the Hawks’ No. 3 slot to select either EuroLeague guard Luka Doncic or possibly Texas center Mohamed Bamba if the Kings pass on Doncic at No. 2, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Those teams, along with the Nuggets, have also talked to the Grizzlies at the No. 4 spot. The Celtics don’t appear to be a serious contender for either pick, O’Connor adds.

Here’s some other tidbits from O’Connor’s story:

  • The Hornets’ willingness to deal Kemba Walker has waned since they reached an agreement with the Nets to trade Dwight Howard for Timofey Mozgov. The Cavaliers have shown interest in solving their point guard dilemma by acquiring Walker.
  • The Clippers could select Miami (Fla.) guard Lonnie Walker with one of their first-rounders and then ship him to the Hawks. The Clippers have the No. 12 and No. 13 picks in the lottery.
  • The Bucks are trying to package the No. 17 pick with point guard Matthew Dellavedova‘s contract. Dellavedova has two years and $19.2MM remaining on his deal. Milwaukee would trade down in the draft in that scenario and not exit altogether.
  • The Timberwolves have a strong interest in Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo with the No. 20 pick.
  • There are rumblings that the Bulls made a promise to draft Boise State shooting guard Chandler Hutchison. That would have to be at No. 22 unless they make a deal.
  • The Trail Blazers and Lakers are interested in IMG Academy shooting guard Anfernee Simons with their late first-round picks.
  • Kentucky small forward Jarred Vanderbilt, Latvian forward Rodions Kurucs, and Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham are believed to have received draft promises.

Blazers Work Out Simons, Several Others

  • Anfernee Simons (IMG Academy), Dzanan Musa (Cedevita), Thomas Welsh (UCLA), Brandon McCoy (UNLV), Jaylen Barford (Arkansas), and Jacobi Boykins (Louisiana Tech) auditioned for the Trail Blazers on Tuesday (Twitter link via Casey Holdahl). It was Simons’ second workout for the Blazers, who passed on a workout with the Grizzlies to visit Portland again (Twitter link via Chris Herrington). Simons also worked out twice for the Lakers and Magic, tweets Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest.

Five Key Offseason Questions: Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers improved their record by eight games in 2017/18 and claimed the No. 3 seed in a competitive Western Conference. However, their season ended the same way it did the year before, with a first-round playoff sweep. And this time around, that sweep came at the hands of the underdog Pelicans rather than the eventual champions in Golden State.

Portland’s roster will need to undergo some tweaks in order to make the club a contender capable of seriously challenging the Warriors and the other top teams in the West, but a 2016 spending spree has limited the front office’s ability to make adjustments. Finding a way to make upgrades will be the primary challenge this offseason for the cap-strapped Blazers.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Will the Blazers consider breaking up their star backcourt?

Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum were largely responsible for the Blazers’ 49-win season, combining for 48.3 PPG and 10.0 APG between them. Lillard, a three-time All-Star, earned First Team All-NBA honors for the first time in his career this spring, and McCollum is a star in his own right, averaging 21.7 PPG with a .412 3PT% over the last three seasons and virtually never missing a game.

Still, there’s a nagging sense that the Blazers won’t ever win a championship as long as Lillard and McCollum are their two best players. Unlike in Golden State, where the Stephen Curry/Klay Thompson duo thrives due to their varied skill sets, neither of Portland’s star guards is an elite wing defender or excels as a simple catch-and-shoot option on offense.

The Blazers have repeatedly insisted that they won’t break up their star backcourt, but it’s an idea worth considering. Lillard almost certainly won’t go anywhere as long as he’s happy in the Pacific Northwest, but finding the right McCollum deal could kill two birds with one stone — McCollum could net the Blazers an impact player who better balances the roster, and moving his $25.76MM salary might help the team better balance its books.

A shakeup of that magnitude is probably unlikely for a team that had the success Portland did in 2017/18, so I expect both guards to stick with the Blazers to start next season. Still, at some point the front office will have to seriously weigh the idea of a change. If it happens as soon as this summer, it wouldn’t be a total shock.

2. Will the Trail Blazers re-sign Jusuf Nurkic?

Assuming the Blazers move forward with Lillard and McCollum, it’s crucial that the duo is complemented with an impact player in the frontcourt, preferably one who can protect the rim and help make up for defensive lapses on the perimeter. Nurkic initially appeared to be that guy after coming over in a midseason trade with the Nuggets in 2017.

While Nurkic had a solid showing in 2017/18, averaging 14.3 PPG and 9.0 RPG with 1.4 BPG, he struggled with consistency on defense, and his offensive game is still somewhat limited. Nurkic will only turn 24 years old in August, so there’s plenty of time for him to continue to develop, but with restricted free agency looming, the Blazers will have to decide how much of an investment his upside is worth. If Portland bets big on Nurkic, the team could be locked into its current core for years, so a long-term deal is a risk.

On the other hand, Zach Collins may not be ready for a major role and fellow big man Ed Davis is a free agent this offseason too. If the Blazers let Nurkic walk, they’d not only be losing him for nothing — they’d also be potentially creating a major hole in their frontcourt without freeing up any extra cap room to fill that hole.

The Blazers’ decision on Nurkic will be a fascinating one. If another team like the Mavericks swoops in with an aggressive offer sheet in the range of $15-20MM per year, matching that offer would be a tough pill for Portland to swallow, especially since insisting on locking up restricted free agents to big-money deals in 2016 helped create the Blazers’ current cap troubles. Still, Nurkic might have a higher ceiling than any of those previous RFAs, and the club won’t want him to become the one that got away.

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Blazers Cautioned Not To Blow Up Roster; Nurkic Free Agency

  • The Trail Blazers need not rush out and blow up their roster, Bobby Marks of ESPN writes, suggesting that the team shouldn’t be punished for overachieving last season and ultimately getting overpowered in the postseason. Marks also adds that Portland fans can expect a long drawn-out restricted free agency process for Jusuf Nurkic, unless he decides to sign his $4.8MM qualifying offer.

Notable Trade Exceptions Available This Offseason

For NBA teams lacking the cap room to make impact additions to their roster this offseason, traded player exceptions represent one tool available to accommodate that sort of acquisition.

As we explain in our glossary entry, traded player exceptions are created when a team trades away a single player without immediately taking salary back in return. The club then has up to one year in which it can acquire one or more players whose combined salaries amount to no more than the traded player’s salary (plus $100K).

That means sizable traded player exceptions created during the 2017 offseason are on track to expire in the coming weeks or months, so teams will have to use them or lose them during the 2018 offseason. Trade exceptions generated during the 2017/18 regular season prior to the February deadline will be available through the offseason and into the 2018/19 season.

The full list of available traded player exceptions can be found right here, but here are a few notable TPEs worth keeping an eye on during the coming offseason:

Portland Trail Blazers
Value of traded player exception: $12,969,502
Expiry date: 7/25/18
Created when they traded Allen Crabbe to the Nets.

The Trail Blazers already have more than $110MM in guaranteed salaries on their books for 2018/19, and that figure doesn’t include a potential new contract for Jusuf Nurkic. So unless they’re able to significantly cut costs elsewhere, it may not be realistic for the Blazers to use their $13MM trade exception to take on another sizable contract.

Still, president of basketball operations Neil Olshey talked earlier this offseason about feeling as if Portland has been too “protective” of some of its assets, including its trade exception. So it sounds like he’ll explore possible uses for it, even if the club ends up not finding a viable deal.

Chicago Bulls
Value of traded player exception: $12,500,000
Expiry date: 2/1/19
Created when they traded Nikola Mirotic to the Pelicans.

The Bulls have been in an odd spot from a cap perspective for the last year, having carried a variety of exceptions that technically made them an over-the-cap team even though their players salaries have never exceeded $99MM. Chicago will have another opportunity to dip below the cap this offseason, and it seems likely that the club will do so, which would mean forfeiting this exception.

Toronto Raptors
Value of traded player exception: $11,800,000
Expiry date: 7/13/18
Created when they traded DeMarre Carroll to the Nets.

The Raptors, who also have a $6,125,440 exception left over from last July’s Cory Joseph deal, are in a similar spot to the Blazers. While their TPEs are good tools to improve the roster in theory, the Raptors have a potential luxury-tax bill to worry about. As such, adding salary without sending out any in return probably isn’t practical for Toronto, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see these exceptions expire.

It’s worth noting that are ways for the Raptors – and other teams on this list – to roll over at least one significant TPE for another year. For instance, let’s say Toronto dealt a player like Norman Powell for someone making about $10-11MM in 2018/19. In that scenario, the Raps could acquire the incoming player with the Carroll TPE and create a new exception worth Powell’s salary.

Los Angeles Clippers
Value of traded player exception: $7,273,631
Expiry date: 6/28/18
Created when they traded Chris Paul to the Rockets.

The Clippers have less than two weeks to use this exception, created in last June’s CP3 blockbuster. This limits their options, since many deals won’t be made until the new league year begins in July. I think this exception is a good bet to go unused.

Detroit Pistons
Value of traded player exception: $7,000,000
Expiry date: 1/29/19
Created when they traded Boban Marjanovic to the Clippers.

With nearly $112MM in guaranteed money on their 2018/19 cap, the Pistons have a little more flexibility than teams like the Blazers and Raptors, but not by much. For instance, Detroit likely wouldn’t be able to use its full mid-level exception and acquire a $7MM player using this TPE. However, if the Pistons can’t find a player they like on the free agent market worth a mid-level investment, this exception could provide an alternate path to adding a bench piece.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Value of traded player exception: $5,811,114
Expiry date: 8/22/18
Created when they traded Kyrie Irving to the Celtics.

There are a ton of moving pieces in play for the Cavaliers‘ offseason, so this modest exception will get overlooked. Still, it could be a useful tool to try to acquire help for LeBron James if he stays — or to help accommodate some roster reshuffling if he departs.

Trail Blazers Interested In Anfernee Simons?

  • Anfernee Simons is generating some first-round buzz, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who tweets that the Trail Blazers and Lakers are among the teams with interest in the IMG Academy guard.

Trail Blazers Working Out Seven Prospects

Several of the Trail Blazers‘ previously-reported workouts are happening today, with Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech), Billy Preston (Bosnia), and Landry Shamet (Wichita State) among the prospects paying a visit to the team, per a press release.

In addition to those players, Portland is also taking a closer look at Khyri Thomas (Creighton), Troy Brown (Oregon), MiKyle McIntosh (Oregon), and De’Anthony Melton (USC). All seven of the prospects auditioning for the Trail Blazers today rank within Jonathan Givony’s top 100 at ESPN.com, with several considered viable candidates to be Portland’s pick at No. 24 overall.

Billy Preston To Work Out For Blazers

  • Billy Preston, who last played in Bosnia, has workouts on tap with the Trail Blazers, Bucks, Hornets, and Nets, he said today (Twitter link via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington). Preston is one of 91 early entrants hoping to be drafted this year.

Landry Shamet To Work Out For Blazers

Rodney Stuckey Participating In Blazers' Mini-Camp

  • Bosnian wing Dzanan Musa, a potential first-round pick who will be keeping his name in the 2018 NBA draft, has workouts on tap with the Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Spurs, and Jazz, tweets Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports.
  • Veteran guard Rodney Stuckey is participating in a free agent mini-camp with the Trail Blazers, a league source tells Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).