LAS VEGAS — The NBA draft and free agency periods came and went during the last two weeks, leaving the Portland Trail Blazers’ starting lineup exactly the same as when they exited Moda Center for the final time following a first-round playoff series loss to Denver on June 3.
The re-signing of Norman Powell, plus some minor tweaks to the roster, certainly didn’t qualify as the sexy offseason hoped for by many, including Damian Lillard. The Blazers’ superstar voiced his concern with the team’s direction to the point of not publicly fully committing to remaining a Blazer should the franchise fail to become a legitimate contender.
Nevertheless, Lillard is under contract for three more years (he has a player option for a fourth year) and the Blazers have zero interest in trading their superstar nor does it appear likely that Lillard will demand a trade this offseason.
Powell, who opted out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, signed for $90 million over five seasons, said that during his decision process he had several conversations with Lillard. They included the six-time All-Star telling Powell that he wanted him to return. Those words meant a lot to Powell and influenced his decision to stay in Portland. Powell added that he believes Lillard, who was recently in Tokyo with USA men’s basketball during their Olympic gold medal run, has addressed all the rumors about his own future, and that it’s not his place to speak for him.
“I signed expecting him to be there,” Powell said. “We’ve had our own talks. I’m sure when Dame gets interviewed again he will say how he’s feeling and what’s going on and I feel like he’s already addressed those statements.”
The re-signing of Powell is significant. Anyone holding out hope that the Blazers would make a major move in free agency simply wasn’t paying close attention.
The Blazers entered free agency with eight players under contract making a combined $121 million. The salary cap for the 2021-22 season is $112.4 million.
With no cap space, landing a major free agent simply wasn’t an option. The Powell signing might not appear huge to some because he finished the season with the Blazers, but the deal likely would have never happened had the Blazers not pulled off the trade to acquire him from Toronto in March for Gary Trent Jr. and Rodney Hood.
The Blazers would not have been able to offer Powell the fifth year he received in that scenario, and even more to the point, they would not have had the cap space to fit $18 million without clearing the salaries of valuable players in the process. Teams can exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents.
The Blazers put themselves in a position to acquire a player of Powell’s caliber by getting out ahead of free agency back in March at the trade deadline.
Given that Powell received interest from other teams, getting him to stay put is a big deal for the Blazers and goes down as one of the biggest unrestricted free agent signings in franchise history. A second-round pick to Milwaukee in 2015, Powell, 28, very likely could still have his best basketball ahead of him.
New coach Chauncey Billups, who helped recruit Powell to stay in Portland, said keeping him was imperative.
“He just added a dimension to the team that I thought was much needed with his aggression and getting to the basket,” Billups said from the Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas. “The team was mostly a jump-shooting team, but he’s one guy that can get downhill, that can get to the basket. He can finish or collapse the defense and kick it out. But not only that, defensively he’s really scrappy. He’s very competitive. You can put him on a lot of different guys. He can really guard.”
Without no existing avenue to sign another top-tier free agent, the next way to acquire talent would be to pull off a major trade.
The best trading chip not named Lillard on the roster is CJ McCollum, who was having an All-Star caliber season before injuring his foot on Jan. 16.
But so far, no such deal has materialized and the Blazers (42-30 last season) appear set to rely mostly on player development, the hiring of Billups and some tweaks to the bench. That is, at least until the February trade deadline when the team would be in a position to possibly pull off another Powell-like trade.
VETERAN MINIMUM ADDITIONS
Over the luxury tax threshold after signing Powell, the Blazers were left with only the taxpayer mid-level exception worth $5.9 million and the freedom to fill out the roster with players on veteran minimum contracts. As they looked for available and interested parties to eat up the taxpayer exception, the Blazers went about signing useful veterans.
That endeavor landed guard Ben McLemore, wing Tony Snell and center Cody Zeller.
None of those names scream “championship,” but they will be expected to fill valuable roles.
McLemore, 28, is an athletic, 6-3 guard who struggled shooting last season with the Lakers and Houston (37% from the field and 34.6% from three) but shot 40% on threes with the Rockets in 2019-20.
“He’s a sniper, man,” Billups said. “He’s a shooter. He is going to be able to make you pay for leaving him open.”
As for McLemore’s shooting issues last season, Billups said he doesn’t see that being an issue moving forward.
Ben McLemore of the Los Angeles Lakers releases the ball against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Amway Center on April 26, 2021, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Alex Menendez/Getty Images)Getty Images
“Sometimes it depends on what system you play in,” Billups said. “If you’re going to be shooting tough shots, then your percentage might not be great.”
Billups believes that his offensive system, which will emphasize more penetration and then passing back out to shooters, will lead to better shots for everyone and enhance McLemore’s value to the team.
At the very least, McLemore provides veteran depth should the Blazers get into injury trouble in the backcourt as they did last season when McCollum broke his foot and missed 25 games.
Snell, 29, is a 6-6 sharpshooting specialist who last season shot 56.9% on threes for Atlanta, albeit on just 109 attempts. But he is a career 39.7% shooter on threes. He has been a solid defender in the past but last season put up a 117.1 defensive rating in Atlanta. Snell lacks the cachet of a Carmelo Anthony but offers the shooting the 10-time All-Star provided last season before departing for the Lakers this offseason.
“You look at Tony Snell and what he was able to do last year, he started a lot of games in Atlanta and he just played his role,” Billups said. “He made shots. He can defend. You’re going to be able to depend on him every night.”
The biggest addition might be Zeller, 28, who overall is an upgrade over the well-liked Enes Kanter at the backup center position behind Jusuf Nurkic.
Zeller, selected by Charlotte with the No. 4 overall pick during the 2013 NBA draft, is more mobile than Kanter and a better defender inside and especially out on the perimeter. Kanter is a more savvy scorer inside, but the Blazers need defense from their backup center more than offense, given the team’s firepower.
Zeller finished last season with a 110.3 defensive rating compared to 114.8 for Kanter, who in the playoffs against Denver had a defensive rating of 143.1.
“I’m really excited to have Cody Zeller,” Billups said. “I’m really excited to have a big that’s good defensively for us. But not only that, he plays with a very high IQ and plays hard as heck. He’s a really good facilitator when he catches it on short rolls, being able to beat the backline defense. Those things are going to be important for us and how we’re going to play.”
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 16: Cody Zeller #40 of the Charlotte Hornets shoots against the Washington Wizards during the second half at Capital One Arena on May 16, 2021 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)Getty Images
Neil Olshey, Blazers president of basketball operations, said following the season that improving the bench’s defense was an offseason priority. Signing Zeller was certainly a move in that direction.
TAXPAYER MID-LEVEL LIMITATIONS
By the time the first week of free agency ended, the Blazers were still holding the taxpayer mid-level exception and had a payroll of about $139 million.
Free agents flew off the board as the Blazers watched and searched for a quality player to take their money. But they didn’t plan to settle on just anyone. They were searching for the right fit.
According to a league source, the Blazers had hoped to use that slot to acquire either Nicolas Batum or Kelly Oubre Jr., two athletic wings who play solid defense. Lillard, according to The Athletic, said he spoke to Oubre late last season and he expressed interest in joining Portland.
Both options fell through, however, for different reasons. First, Oubre received a far better offer from the Charlotte Hornets worth $26 million over two years.
While the Blazers couldn’t compete financially for Oubre, they lost out on Batum despite offering more money than the Los Angeles Clippers, who reportedly retained him with a two-year deal worth $6 million. According to a source, Batum’s decision not to return to Portland where he began his career in 2008 and played through the 2014-15 season, came down to his preference for L.A.
This situation speaks to the continuing problem the Blazers have had for decades attracting free agents who have other choices in more desirable markets.
Still, the Blazers arguably improved the bench with fits that the new coach likes and retained a quality player that had options elsewhere. The lack of additional moves appeared to leave Lillard frustrated with the process when asked about it while in Tokyo.
“When you go into free agency and things like this, you never know what’s going to happen,” Lillard said. “You never know where guys are going to end up and why they go there. You just try to have conversations and convince guys to be a part of our team. Obviously, this go around, we weren’t able to go out there and get some of the guys that we would have liked. You go down the list of guys that you like that are out there that haven’t committed to another team or that was a part of your plans in free agency, and you get the ones that want to be a part of what you’re doing and I think that’s what we did.”
Thursday: A look ahead to next season and how coach Chauncey Billups believes the Blazers can improve on offense and defense.
— Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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