Lillard ultimately decided he wanted to remain in Portland, in large part due to the one major change the team did make in the offseason. For several weeks, it seemed as if Lillard might be on the verge of requesting a trade, especially since the Blazers didn’t exactly swing for the fences with their moves in free agency. The six-time All-Star professed his loyalty to Portland over and over again during his first nine years in the NBA, but a frustrating 2020/21 season made him question that commitment, if not for the first time then at least more seriously than he has in the past.
The disappointing finish to Portland’s season also prompted Lillard to do some summer soul searching. However, the Blazers couldn’t get past Denver, sending them back to the drawing board this summer. The addition of Norman Powell at the 2021 trade deadline put the Trail Blazers in position to make some noise in the playoffs - the five-man lineup of Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Robert Covington, Jusuf Nurkic, and Powell was one of the NBA’s best down the stretch, and the Blazers drew a fairly favorable first-round matchup, facing a Nuggets team that was missing Jamal Murray.
One traded player exception ($1,663,861) available. Would need to shed salary to use more than taxpayer portion of mid-level exception or any part of bi-annual exception ($3,732,000), since doing either would create a $143MM hard cap. $4,964,742 of taxpayer mid-level exception still available ($925,258 used on Greg Brown). Carrying approximately $139.6MM in salary. Remained over the cap and above the tax line. Newly-hired assistant coach Milt Palacio placed on administrative leave after being accused of defrauding the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan. Hired Scott Brooks, Roy Rogers, Steve Hetzel, and Edniesha Curry as assistant coaches lost assistant coaches Nate Tibbetts, Jannero Pargo, Jim Moran, and John McCullough. Hired Chauncey Billups as head coach to replace Terry Stotts. 
Signed to three-year, minimum-salary contract. from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade in exchange for Derrick Jones (to Bulls) and the Trail Blazers’ 2022 first-round pick (top-14 protected to Bulls). 43 pick) from the Pelicans in exchange for the Trail Blazers’ 2026 second-round pick and cash ($2MM). Acquired the draft rights to Greg Brown (No. Dennis Smith Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Cody Zeller: One year, minimum salary. Ben McLemore: One year, minimum salary. Note: Exhibit 9 and 10 deals aren’t included here. Today, we’re focusing on the Portland Trail Blazers. We’ll evaluate each team’s offseason moves and look ahead to what the 2021/22 season holds for all 30 franchises. Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2021 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more.
0 kommentar(er)
