Breaking Down the Trail Blazers' Offseason Contract Decisions
The Blazers have 10 players going into the final year of their contracts or eligible for new deals this summer.
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Beyond figuring out who to draft with the No. 11 overall pick next week, the Trail Blazers have some big decisions to make this summer.
Portland only has two players coming up on free agency next month, but they have eight players who are either going into the final year of their contracts or who become extension-eligible this summer.
As it stands right now, if the Blazers' roster and cap sheet stay as-is for the next year and they let all their upcoming expiring contracts run out, they could have as much as $80 million in space next summer. It's unlikely they do that, for a few reasons. For one, at least a few of those players are guys they undoubtedly want to keep around long-term. For another, free agency isn't what it used to be. Big names rarely change teams in that way anymore.
But in figuring out what to do with their upcoming contract decisions in the next few weeks and months, the front office will still have to weigh how much of that flexibility is worth eating into by extending or re-signing players. The new, extra-punitive tax and apron structure makes it even more important to use every dollar wisely.
Here are the decisions the Blazers will have to make on players, with my own view on how they might go.
