2018 NBA free agency grades: Blazers adding Nik Stauskas

At the dawn of 2018 NBA free agency, the Portland Trail Blazers quickly agreed to terms with four-year pro Nik Stauskas. Was this a good acquisition?

When 2018 NBA free agency commenced at midnight on July 1, the Portland Trail Blazers didn’t waste much time securing their first player of the offseason. According to ESPN‘s Chris Haynes, the Blazers and shooting guard Nik Stauskas agreed to terms on a one-year, minimum salary contract.

The Mississauga, Ontario native spent two years playing collegiately at Michigan, earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2014. The Sacramento Kings drafted him eighth overall in the 2014 NBA Draft. Stauskas spent his rookie season in Sac-Town before being shipped to the Philadelphia 76ers the following summer.

Stauskas spent two and a half seasons in Philly. He played 159 games, starting of 62 of them, and averaged 8.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. On Dec. 7, 2017, the Sixers dealt him, Jahlil Okafor and a 2019 second round draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Trevor Booker. Stauskas averaged 5.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 35 appearances with Brooklyn.

As a four-year pro, Stauskas’ will earn $1.6 million for the season. However, because it is a one-year minimum contract, only $1.5 million of the contract will be charged on the books. That amount is how much a two-year pro receives for the same deal in 2018-19.

Portland basically brought in Nik Stauskas to replace Pat Connaughton. Connaughton entered the offseason as a restricted free agent after three seasons with the Blazers. Portland would’ve had to tender him a qualifying offer in order to gain the right of first refusal over any offer sheets he received this summer.

That qualifying offer would cost Portland $1.8 million. The front office declined the opportunity. Therefore, Connaughton became an unrestricted free agent and Rip City chose Stauskas to fill his vacancy.

Stauskas’ best attribute is his 3-point shooting. He shot 42.3 percent from beyond the arc in his final college season and 40.4 percent during his Brooklyn stint. However, Stauskas shot 34.3 percent in the three pro seasons in between. Connaughton shot 35.2 percent from 3 last year and 36.4 percent for his career.

Unfortunately, Stauskas lacks the athleticism and defensive ability that his predecessor possessed. In Brooklyn he conceded 1.25 points per possession when defending isolations. Had he played enough games to qualify for a ranking, he would have finished in the fifth percentile. By contrast, Connaughton gave up just 0.67 points per possession on the same plays, putting him in the 88th percentile.

Also, the optics of this signing look bad when contrasted against fan favorite Ed Davis‘ new deal. According to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, Davis went the opposite direction, signing a one-year, $4.4 million deal with the Nets.

Despite their financial bind, the Blazers could certainly have afforded re-signing a glue guy like Davis to that same sort of deal. Blazers Nation is very upset at general manager Neil Olshey for this turn of events, and I honestly can’t blame them.

In the end, Nik Stauskas could actually work out. The Blazers need reliable shooting off of the bench and he provides that. He struggled adjusting to the NBA 3 in his first two seasons, but has gone 37.5 percent from outside in his past two seasons. Having playmakers like Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum dishing him the ball in rhythm should help him tremendously.

However, when you’re already a polarizing GM, it isn’t a good look to sign a single role player after losing three other valuable, popular ones (Connaughton, Davis and Shabazz Napier) in the process.

Still, the summer is far from over. The Blazers are $13.2 million over the salary cap, but they still have ways of adding players. For one, they can sign players to minimum-salary contracts. They also possess several trade exceptions to use for signings, namely an almost $13 million exception they received after dealing away Allen Crabbe.

It will be interesting to see the types of financial hoops Olshey jumps through with these tools at his disposal. He has the unenviable task of trying to fortify this Portland Trail Blazers roster for another run at a top spot in what has become an even tougher Western Conference.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Grade: C