NBA FREE AGENCY
Key Free Agents: F Norman Powell (Player Option – $11.6M 2021-22 season), F Derrick Jones Jr. (Player Option – $9.7M 2021-22 season), F Zach Collins (2020-21 salary – $5.4M), C Enes Kanter ($5M), F Carmelo Anthony ($2.5M)
Other Free Agents: F/C Harry Giles ($1.6M), F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ($245K), F Keljin Blevins (Two-Way), F T.J. Leaf (Two-Way)
Assuming that Norman Powell opts out of his player option for the 2021-22 season since he is expected to have multiple suitors that will offer him $15M+ per year, Portland will be roughly $3.5M over the salary cap this offseason and that is before the decisions of all the players, besides Powell, with options on their contracts.
Derrick Jones Jr. has a $9.7M player option for next season that nobody really knows what he is going to with yet and then Portland has two key team options on the contracts of Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little, which would add up to $6.2M in salary expenses should they exercise both of their rookie options for next season.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: Trail Blazers could trade big man Jusuf Nurkic this offseason
The Blazers are not in a good spot financially at all given their lack of success over the years and with Zach Collins, Enes Kanter and Carmelo Anthony all set to become free agents this summer, they will have to choose who they want to keep and who they want to let go.
Bringing the same team back from this past year does nothing for the Blazers, which is why they could ultimately let both Zach Collins and Enes Kanter walk. If Carmelo Anthony is willing to resign for the veterans minimum, he will be back in Portland again next year, but Collins and Kanter could hold too big of a price tag.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: This Blazers-Mavericks trade pairs CJ McCollum, Luka Doncic
Collins is a huge question mark for Portland because he sat out the entire 2020-21 season with an ankle/foot injury. He underwent surgery in December of 2020 for a left ankle fracture and suffered multiple setbacks since originally hurting his left ankle in the NBA Bubble last summer. Now, Zach Collins has not stepped foot on a basketball court in a real game since last August, which is why Portland could be hesitant to bring him back on a long-term deal.
With not a lot of cap space and not much true talent being available in free agency this year, the Portland Trail Blazers will definitely be scrambling for answers roster-wise this offseason, but going after some defensive-minded players who are not too costly could greatly benefit this organization in free agency.
Options are thin for the Blazers in terms of who to add in the offseason via free agency, but I would definitely expect them to bring in a handful of new faces of close to minimum deals to keep them under the hard cap. Portland is a really good basketball team and they have potential to make a deep postseason run, but they will need to tighten up their second-unit in order to do so.
