Given the trade that happened on Friday, there HAS to be a corresponding move coming, right? You don't trade 2 starters, no matter how much of an overlap there might be with one of them (Powell), just to get under the Cap. As a fan, I can't allow myself to believe that, or all hope for this franchise is lost.
So it would seem, it has to start with
Eric Bledsoe.
Bledsoe's current salary is $18,125,000 for this year and grows to $19,375,000 next year BUT, only around $3,900,000 of that is guaranteed. He can be bought out for a significant Cap savings....for whatever team owns his contract. That is a tidy sum for a team that needs some flexibility or needs to get under the cap. The Blazers can use that to acquire another asset that is usable that is under contract for a longer period of time since it would do them little good in FA'cy.
The concern is, how Cronin is going to make this work. I have been assured by a number of sauces that there were other deals on the table and many other discussions, almost all of which, fans would have thought were better deals.
So there HAS to be a 'next' move, or this will be one of the worst trade in franchise history. This was brought up yesterday. Jody and Steve have known each other for years as neighbors, and through Paul with Microsoft. I'm sure we all hope this wasn't just a solid done for a long time acquaintance because she really doesn't care about the Blazers like she does the Seahawks.
She is the one who had to sign off on this, so hopefully Joe has another chess move down the road to polish up this turd a bit. Some of you cap gurus can play with Bledsoe's contract to see what else we might be able to do.
As fans, we need a 'silver lining' out of this, because yesterday was brutal.