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Should The Trail Blazers Attempt To Re-Sign Arron Afflalo?

By Chris Kirby

Mar 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Portland Trail Blazers guard Arron Afflalo (4) looks on against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Canada Centre. The Trail Blazers beat the Raptors 113-97. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 15, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Portland Trail Blazers guard Arron Afflalo (4) looks on against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Canada Centre. The Trail Blazers beat the Raptors 113-97. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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There are numerous reports stating that Arron Afflalo will opt out of his current contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was acquired from the Denver Nuggets at the NBA trade deadline for Will Barton, Thomas Robinson and a future first-round draft pick.

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Many fans (including myself) thought he would be the perfect complement to Wesley Matthews, as well as a legitimate sixth man coming off of a weaker bench. Up to this point, that hasn’t worked out according to the plan and now the Blazers may be forced to move on and explore other options. Regardless, do we even need Afflalo and would he be worth re-signing in the first place?

Afflalo didn’t play horrible for the Blazers, but he didn’t impress anybody, either. He came from a situation in Denver where he was comfortable with the team and coaches, so there is always going to be an adjustment period when you change scenery. He came into an entirely new system where he was asked to come off of the bench for the first time since his first couple of years with the Detroit Pistons.

Eventually, he had to replace Matthews in the starting lineup when Wes went down with a season-ending Achilles injury. The trade actually worked out in that sense – Afflalo can stroke the three and defend the perimeter so you can’t really ask for a better replacement considering the circumstance.

However, the adjustment still may have been too much for Arron to handle and despite him shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc, the team still floundered down the stretch as he started at the off-guard spot.

He ended up finishing his short stint in Portland with a strained shoulder injury that kept him out of the first two playoff games against the Memphis Grizzlies, and when he did get a chance to return during the final three games, he made no impact – 1.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per-game, while shooting 16.7 percent from the field.

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    • He has a $7.94 million player option for next season, but it looks like he is going to opt out of his current deal and explore other opportunities in free agency. If that’s what he wants to do, then you can’t really blame him, but I don’t see any other team offering him a payday in the neighborhood of $8 million after his poor showing in the playoffs this season.

    Regardless of his decision to see what other alternatives he has on the open market, the Blazers may be wiser to cut their ties and move in another direction. Allen Crabbe played well for the team when he was given the opportunity.

    While he is not the seasoned veteran that Afflalo is, Crabbe did show some potential on the defensive end of the floor (he allowed opponents to shoot only 20.0 percent from behind the three-point stripe) and he is a decent shooter (35.3 percent from long distance in 51 games this season).

    The Trail Blazers would be smart to focus on the situation with Matthews and see if they can find a better fit on the free agent market, and if nothing materializes there, maybe bring Afflalo back into the fold. C.J. McCollum and Allen Crabbe have both emerged down the stretch and (combined) they would cost the Blazers less than Arron would.

    The only negative that may come out of all of this would be the fact that this trade cost the Blazers a first-round for a 23-game audition. Sometimes you have to just cut your losses and move on.

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