Portland Trail Blazers’ Salary Woes Could Hurt Their Playoff Hopes in 2017–18
Financial Handcuffing May Hurt Rip City
The Portland Trail Blazers came into the 2016- 2017 season with positive and negative outlooks. The team had gone into free agency with high hopes. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum had already been locked in until 2021. Allen Crabbe re-signed with Portland for four years worth just under $75 million. In addition, they added up the likes of Festus Ezeli and Evan Turner to the mix. Overall, they had a solid core and appeared ready to take the league by storm. Brighter days were ahead for the Blazers.
On top of that, at the trade deadline, the Blazers traded for Jusuf Nurkic. This move seemed rudimentary at first glance. However, this move helped push Portland into the playoffs. What came off as a simple salary move became the deciding factor for Rip City. In the 20 games he played for the Blazers, he averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. Nurk even gave us a little glance at what he felt Portland could achieve after a game against his former Denver Nuggets:
“When I came here, I said I want to be in the position to be on a playoff team and now we’re there, so I wish those guys a happy summer.”
Hey, he’s a man of his word. The Blazers would end up making the playoffs as the eighth seed. However, Nurkic went down with a leg injury and ultimately Portland got swept by the soon-to-be NBA champion Golden State Warriors. But, this was a sign of better things to come for Portlandia. Clearly, the team has their new big three in Lillard, McCollum, and Nurkic.
So, that takes us to this off-season.
Remember, Portland spent a ton of money last summer. This season, the Trail Blazers will owe $36 million between Crabbe and Turner alone. While they both play important roles off the bench, that’s still a ton of dough for second unit pieces. Overall, the Blazers have become handcuffed to the lucrative contracts of last summer. Normally, spending this kind of money signals a new era for a team. Essentially, the team wants to bring in the best talent in order to start competing.
That said, the Blazers were in a unique situation. Crabbe played an important part for their bench the season before. The Brooklyn Nets initially offered him the same deal that he’d end up taking in Portland. Since he was a restricted free agent, the Blazers simply matched the offer, and that was the end of it. Evan Turner was an unrestricted free agent. He and Portland agreed to the terms of the deal with the thought that ET would play a big role off the bench. Ultimately, the deals made sense at the time. Now, we may be seeing the affects of this over-spending.
Going into this summer, the Blazers waived Festus Ezeli. He didn’t play last season, as he was recovering from a knee injury. However, cutting ties with Ezeli resulted in $1 million in dead cap. This helped the Portland Trail Blazers out a bit. However, the big picture remains somewhat upsetting.
Currently, the Blazers are $13 million over the salary cap. That’s essentially the additional amount of cash they need to pay beyond their own player salaries. Overall, Portland’s $33 million over the salary cap. Because of this, Portland can’t bring in any free agents unless it’s for the league minimum. With their roster at 12 players already, that means the only real players they can bring in are their draft picks: Caleb Swanigan and Zach Collins. In essence, they’re stuck.
Looking at how the roster shapes up, it’s exactly like last year’s. On the plus side, that means they’ll probably have better chemistry. Most of the roster has played with one another for at least 20 games (Nurk), so they should know each other’s tendencies. The real issue comes in the form of the opposition.
The rest of the West is improving in varying degrees. The Oklahoma City Thunder added Paul George. The Houston Rockets added Chris Paul. The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs continue to sit atop the West. If anything, Portland’s lack of cap space makes them inept against this competition. The Blazers squeaked into the playoffs last year with a 41–41 record. Imagine what their record would be with the same core in a stronger Western Conference? They could very well get swept again, or even miss the playoffs entirely.
Another issue comes in if they wanted to blow up this core. Considering how expensive guys like Turner and Crabbe are, teams may not want to target them. Lillard and McCollum clearly need to stick around, but Nurkic could present an issue, too. He’s still on his rookie deal, but depending on how well he does next season, he could expect a big payday. Similar to Crabbe, the restricted free agency of Nurk may cripple the Blazers financially. That luxury tax threshold could very well get bigger. As much as you want to root for the Blazers, you can’t help but wonder how far this core can seriously go.
Ultimately, the Portland Trail Blazers are in a weird financial state. Without much room for improvement, the hope lies in the betterment of their core. Personally, I like the big three of Dame, C.J., and Nurk. However, given the lack of flexibility, this core may not go far. Hopefully, they can all get it together. They’re a fun group to watch.
