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Mason Plumlee Extension With Blazers Unlikely

October 29th, 2016 at 6:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

The odds are against center Mason Plumlee reaching a rookie scale extension agreement with the Trail Blazers before Monday’s deadline, tweets Jason Quick of CSNNW. If no deal is reached, Plumlee will become a restricted free agent next summer, which Quick says wouldn’t be a surprise.

Plumlee is beginning his second year with Portland and his fourth in the NBA. He is making $2,328,530 this season.

Plumlee started all 82 games for the Blazers in 2015/16 after coming to the team in a deal with the Nets. He averaged 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in a little more than 25 minutes per game.

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Greg Oden Admits Basketball Career Is Over

October 29th, 2016 at 4:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

With his basketball career behind him, former No. 1 pick Greg Oden is trying to move on to the next chapter of his life, writes Dana Hunsinger Benbow of The Indianapolis Star.

Oden has re-enrolled at Ohio State, where he dominated the Big 10 a decade ago. Now 28, he is a sophomore sports industry major and speaks about his basketball career in the past tense.

“I wish,” he said when asked about playing again. “It’s over.”

It’s a difficult end for the can’t-miss prospect whom the Trail Blazers drafted ahead of Kevin Durant in 2007. Oden was a 7-foot freshman who led the Buckeyes to the national championship game and was expected to quickly become one of the NBA’s top centers. Instead, he suffered through a series of injuries that limited him to 82 games in two seasons in Portland and 23 in a season with Miami.

Oden got a four-year, $22MM contract from the Blazers, but had to sit out his rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. A foot injury took away the early part of the next season, which was later cut short by another knee injury.

After 21 games in 2009/10, Oden suffered a patella injury that required another microfracture surgery. A setback in rehab was followed by two more surgeries.

“Honestly, it was definitely unbelievable,” Oden saids. “With the third injury in a row, I was like, ‘Are you kidding me right now?'”

Oden tried to revive his basketball career last season in China, but he was cut in January. He made headlines for a domestic violence incident in 2014, but has mostly been out of the spotlight since leaving Miami. He became a father for the first time five weeks ago and is looking to move on from basketball.

“I wouldn’t say I regret anything,” Oden said. “I would say I just wish I did things better.”

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Stein: Blazers Are Most Likely Team To Make A Trade

October 28th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Many “league observers” believe that the Trail Blazers‘ aggressive spending this offseason was more about collecting assets than anything else, says Stein. Portland has an excess of wings and big men, and is considered the team most likely to make a trade this season, according to the ESPN scribe. It would certainly make sense for the Blazers to move one of their bigger long-term contracts — they already have nearly $130MM in guaranteed money on their cap for next year (2017/18).

    [SOURCE LINK]
  • Many “league observers” believe that the Trail Blazers‘ aggressive spending this offseason was more about collecting assets than anything else, says Stein. Portland has an excess of wings and big men, and is considered the team most likely to make a trade this season, according to the ESPN scribe. It would certainly make sense for the Blazers to move one of their bigger long-term contracts — they already have nearly $130MM in guaranteed money on their cap for next year (2017/18).
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Blazers Pick Up 2017/18 Options On Vonleh, Napier

October 24th, 2016 at 11:23am CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers are exercising their 2017/18 team options on forward Noah Vonleh and guard Shabazz Napier, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). That will put both players on track to play out their rookie contracts and potentially reach restricted free agency in 2018, if they’re not waived or extended before then. Portland has confirmed the moves in a press release.

The 2017/18 salaries for Vonleh ($3.505MM) and Napier ($2.361MM) aren’t exorbitant, and both players are still young, so it makes sense for the Blazers to exercise those options. Still, it wasn’t viewed as a lock in either case.

Vonleh, who turned 21 this summer, started 56 games during his first year in Portland, but only averaged 15.1 minutes per contest, and posted underwhelming numbers (3.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, .421 FG%). The Blazers reportedly intend to use Al-Farouq Aminu exclusively at power forward – instead of small forward – this year, which could mean further reducing Vonleh’s minutes unless he shows major signs of improvement.

Napier, meanwhile, is playing on his third team in three years since being selected 24th overall in 2014. Traded to the Heat on draft night, the 25-year-old spent his rookie season with Miami, then played last season for the Magic before being dealt to the Blazers this summer in a salary dump by Orlando. Napier played just 10.9 minutes per game in 55 contests last season, averaging 3.7 PPG and 1.8 APG while shooting 33.8% from the field.

By exercising both options, the Blazers will push their overall guaranteed money for 2017/18 to nearly $130MM, the highest total in the NBA.

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Quarterman Earns Final Spot

October 23rd, 2016 at 9:08pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • After going undrafted out of LSU, Tim Quarterman has earned a spot on the Trail Blazers’ roster, writes Casey Holdahl of NBA.com. Quarterman signed with Portland in late July, which gave him plenty of time to impress Blazers management and coach Terry Stotts. Quarterman only saw 16 minutes of playing time during the preseason, but was able to beat out Grant Jerrett, Greg Stiemsma and Luis Montero for the final roster spot. “I just try to come in and work every day, push myself, go against the vets on the team and stuff like that every day and try to get better,” Quarterman said. “I never approached it as like I was the frontrunner or anything like that, I always approached it like I was the last guy trying to make it to the front.”
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Blazers Waive Jerrett, Stiemsma

October 22nd, 2016 at 8:35am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Blazers have made a pair of roster cuts, waiving Grant Jerrett and Greg Stiemsma, the team announced via press release. Portland won’t be on the hook for any salary as a result of the moves since neither player had any guaranteed money included in their contracts. The team’s roster now stands at 15 players, which is the regular season maximum.

Jerrett last appeared in an NBA regular season contest during the 2014/15 campaign, when he played in a combined eight games for the Jazz and the Thunder. The power forward averaged 2.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.4 minutes while shooting .269/.067/1.000.

Stiemsma, 31, has four years of NBA experience under his belt, having appeared in regular-season games for the Celtics, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Raptors from 2011 to 2015. In 203 total games, the former Wisconsin big man has averaged 3.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in a part-time role, shooting 50.9% from the field.

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Lillard Believes Blazers Can Win West

October 18th, 2016 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito
  • Blazers point guard Damian Lillard believes that Portland will be a contender for the Western Conference crown this season, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes. “It’s a lot of tough teams in the West,” Lillard said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh we can go right up in there and it’s going to be easy.’ But I feel like we’re one of the teams that’s right there in the mix. Obviously, you’ve got teams like Golden State and San Antonio, the teams that everybody talks about. Obviously, they’ll be good, but I feel like we could jump right up there and get in the mix with them.”
  • Lillard’s backcourt partner, C.J. McCollum, who inked a maximum salary extension this summer with the Blazers, has the proper makeup not to let the distractions that accompany such a major financial windfall affect his play, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical writes in his profile of the player.
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2016/17 NBA Over/Unders: Northwest Division

October 17th, 2016 at 2:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2016/17 NBA regular season will get underway in just over a week, which means it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign. With the help of the lines from offshore betting site Bovada.lv, we’re going to run through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division, and have you weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic. Having looked at the Atlantic division last Friday, we’re moving on to the Northwest today…

Utah Jazz

(App users, click here for Jazz poll)

Portland Trail Blazers

(App users, click here for Trail Blazers poll)

Oklahoma City Thunder

(App users, click here for Thunder poll)

Minnesota Timberwolves

(App users, click here for Timberwolves poll)

Denver Nuggets

(App users, click here for Nuggets poll)

Previous voting results:

Atlantic:

  • Boston Celtics (52.5 wins): Under (54.59%)
  • Toronto Raptors (50.5 wins): Over (54.63%)
  • New York Knicks (38.5 wins): Over (71.41%)
  • Philadelphia 76ers (23.5 wins): Under (54.62%)
  • Brooklyn Nets (20.5 wins): Under (60.74%)
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Poll: Northwest Division Winner

October 16th, 2016 at 11:46am CST by ChrisCrouse

The TrailBlazers are the favorites to win the Northwest division this season, but it’s far from a certain outcome. Just a year ago, Portland was expected to be a lottery team after losing four starters, but the team overachieved, winning 44 games and beating an injury-riddled Clippers squad in the playoffs en route to a second round playoff series loss to the Warriors. Portland aggressively pursued high-priced, impact players in free agency and ended up adding Evan Turner on an expensive, four year, $70MM deal. Turner is a perplexing addition for a team that already had wing depth, but his presence should provide insurance of sorts in case of an injury. Turner will also give the team more flexibility with its line-up decisions, as Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors writes in the team’s Offseason In Review. The Blazers’ depth should keep them from sliding too far down the standings, but they remain a strong candidate to regress.

The Thunder had the worst offseason of any team, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors details in the team’s Offseason In Review. Losing Kevin Durant hurts, but Oklahoma City’s roster is not barren. This team can easily go 10-12 players deep on most nights and Russell Westbrook shifting from running-mate to Commander In Chief with a solid supporting cast should be not only fun to watch, but also enough to keep the team in contention for the division crown.

The Wolves arguably have the best young core in all of basketball. They appear to be a year or two away from making major noise in the conference, as I discussed in the team’s Offseason In Review. However, coach/executive Tom Thibodeau is going to get the most out of this roster and if Kris Dunn is able to hit the ground running, Minnesota could exceed expectations.

Denver lurks as a potential playoff team this season. The Nuggets’ success hinges on Emmanuel Mudiay taking the next step and proving he can be a franchise point guard. The franchise is likely a season away from reaching its playoff goal, as Scarito writes in the team’s Offseason In Review. Nevertheless, this team will be frisky on a nightly basis with its depth giving opposing teams trouble.

The Jazz are in position to take a major step forward. The addition of George Hill is an underrated move and his presence, along with 35-year-old Joe Johnson and 34-year-old Boris Diaw, will provide this team with veteran leadership, as Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors notes in the team’s Offseason in Review.  The Jazz have the talent to compete with any team in the league and they are my personal pick to win this division. Despite the injury to Gordon Hayward, I envision this team winning over 50 games and earning a top-4 seed in the Western Conference.

Do you think the Jazz will be atop this division at the end of the season or will another team take home the crown? Don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say!

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Harkless May Have Earned Starting Spot

October 15th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Maurice Harkless has played well enough this preseason to claim the Trail Blazers‘ starting small forward slot, contends Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. The 23-year-old Harkless re-signed with Portland this summer for four years at $40MM, but faces competition for the starter’s job from the re-signed Allen Crabbe and free agent addition Evan Turner. Coach Terry Stotts hasn’t named a starter yet, but Freeman believes Harkless’ defensive abilities and his chemistry with the other starters makes him the best choice. “Moe … just makes us versatile,” said Damian Lillard. “Being able to rebound the ball and push it, knock down threes, he can guard a bunch of positions, he changes the game in a different way.”

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