Portland Trail Blazers: Sticking with 14 players an intriguing choice
The Portland Trail Blazers cut all three of their training camp invites in a move mainly done to maintain costs.
The Portland Trail Blazers had three candidates vying for the team’s 15th and final roster spot. In the end, the team chose “none of the above.”
On Friday night, the Blazers waived guards Isaiah Briscoe, Archie Goodwin and Anthony Morrow, leaving their final roster spot vacant. Blazers.com’s Casey Holdahl broke the news immediately following the team’s 129-81 preseason finale win over Israeli club Maccabi Haifa.
Briscoe, a rookie out of Kentucky, averaged 6.2 points per game in six preseason games. Goodwin finished with 6.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in five appearances. Veteran sharpshooter Anthony Morrow ended the preseason averaging 4.8 points per game in five games.
Head coach Terry Stotts told The Oregonian it wasn’t an easy decision, but was ultimately a financial one.
"“We wanted to have an open roster spot. Being a luxury tax team — this is probably more of a question for Neil [Olshey] than for me — it’s an added expense. I think the open roster spot was important.”"
The Blazers have spent the summer cutting their costs. Things kicked off on June 28 when the team traded guard Tim Quarterman to the Houston Rockets for cash considerations. On July 25, Portland dealt Allen Crabbe‘s big contract to the Brooklyn Nets for the subsequently-waived Andrew Nicholson.
Now, the Blazers eschew fortifying their roster in the name of cap relief. With these summer transactions, the team has dropped the team’s total cap obligations from third-highest in the NBA to sixth.
It’s unfortunate, as the Blazers seemed to have found some gems in Briscoe and Morrow. Briscoe comported himself well as a playmaker, coupling his 2.3 assists per game average with only 0.7 turnovers per game. Meanwhile, Morrow upheld his reputation as a 41.7 percent career 3-point shooter by going 46.2 percent from outside this preseason.
Ideally, the team would have given Morrow the 15th man slot and signed Briscoe to the team’s other two-way deal. But in the end, the financial decisions Portland made in the summer of 2016 continue to haunt them. It’s hard to add players to the end of the bench when the five most expensive contracts total $87.3 million.
The financial picture may clear up more this summer. Ed Davis will be a free agent, freeing up $6.4 million of cap space. Additionally, Pat Connaughton, Shabazz Napier, Jusuf Nurkic and Noah Vonleh are all restricted free agents. The team can make offers to any of the four depending on how they fit financially and tactically.
Even before next summer, there is always a chance that the Blazers make a deal or two during the season to get further under the luxury tax. The team is currently $66,198 into the tax, so one small move could potentially get them out.
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But for now, the Portland Trail Blazers will charge into the season with 12 returning players, two rookies and C.J. Wilcox‘s two-way contract. They kick off their season Wednesday night at the Phoenix Suns.