ABM
Happily Married In Music City, USA!
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https://www.blazersedge.com/2019/8/...ail-blazers-salary-cap-space-free-agency-2020
How the Trail Blazers Might Create and Leverage Cap Space in 2020
Portland has plenty of options after the coming season. Are any of them significant enough to matter?
With the 2019 offseason essentially complete, the Portland Trail Blazers’ front office can look forward to 2020 and beyond. There will be moves between now and then to strengthen the current roster, but the prospect of the team having cap space for the first time in a few years should hold the attention of the team as they move through the 2019-20 season. Depending on the player options for Rodney Hood and Mario Hezonja and where the Blazers’ draft pick falls, the team could open up as much as $19 million in cap space in 2020, enough to nab the starting-level wing they’ve been missing over much of the Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum era.
As of now, Portland’s assumption has to be that Hood and Hezonja will both outplay their 2020-21 salaries and opt to hit free agency once again next year. Hood is slated to make $6.0 million, while Hezonja will have the option to play for less than $2.0 million on the second year of a minimum deal he signed this year.
However, Hood and Hezonja both hold decisions that are outside of the team’s control. Should both opt in, that would push the team down to about $12.5 million in cap space, though the lost cap space would be the least of their worries in that situation. Should Hood play poorly enough (or get hurt) in 2019-20 such that he opts to take the $6.0 million rather than hit the open market, that would mean far more to the Trail Blazers in each of the next two years than the lost cap space. Hezonja’s play and option decision isn’t nearly as impactful, both because he makes less money and isn’t as important to their rotation.
Assuming the year goes well enough for Hood to opt out, Portland has a very interesting summer ahead of them. They’ll go into July 2020 with eight players under contract: Lillard, McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Gary Trent Jr., and their 2020 first-round pick.
Should they go the cap space route, they’d have about $19 million to spend, plus another $5.1 million on the Room Exception once they’ve exhausted their available space. That should be enough for them to fill out their roster with a starting small forward and a handful of backups to fill the bench. Getting the right player at the 3 will be of utmost importance for them, as they’ve struggled to fill that spot in the past with a player who can produce on both ends of the floor.(CONTINUED)
https://www.blazersedge.com/2019/8/...ail-blazers-salary-cap-space-free-agency-2020
How the Trail Blazers Might Create and Leverage Cap Space in 2020
Portland has plenty of options after the coming season. Are any of them significant enough to matter?
With the 2019 offseason essentially complete, the Portland Trail Blazers’ front office can look forward to 2020 and beyond. There will be moves between now and then to strengthen the current roster, but the prospect of the team having cap space for the first time in a few years should hold the attention of the team as they move through the 2019-20 season. Depending on the player options for Rodney Hood and Mario Hezonja and where the Blazers’ draft pick falls, the team could open up as much as $19 million in cap space in 2020, enough to nab the starting-level wing they’ve been missing over much of the Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum era.
As of now, Portland’s assumption has to be that Hood and Hezonja will both outplay their 2020-21 salaries and opt to hit free agency once again next year. Hood is slated to make $6.0 million, while Hezonja will have the option to play for less than $2.0 million on the second year of a minimum deal he signed this year.
However, Hood and Hezonja both hold decisions that are outside of the team’s control. Should both opt in, that would push the team down to about $12.5 million in cap space, though the lost cap space would be the least of their worries in that situation. Should Hood play poorly enough (or get hurt) in 2019-20 such that he opts to take the $6.0 million rather than hit the open market, that would mean far more to the Trail Blazers in each of the next two years than the lost cap space. Hezonja’s play and option decision isn’t nearly as impactful, both because he makes less money and isn’t as important to their rotation.
Assuming the year goes well enough for Hood to opt out, Portland has a very interesting summer ahead of them. They’ll go into July 2020 with eight players under contract: Lillard, McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Gary Trent Jr., and their 2020 first-round pick.
Should they go the cap space route, they’d have about $19 million to spend, plus another $5.1 million on the Room Exception once they’ve exhausted their available space. That should be enough for them to fill out their roster with a starting small forward and a handful of backups to fill the bench. Getting the right player at the 3 will be of utmost importance for them, as they’ve struggled to fill that spot in the past with a player who can produce on both ends of the floor.(CONTINUED)
