MAILBAG (PART 2): Trail Blazers Ownership, Trendon Watford, Impact of the New CBA and More

Answering subscriber questions in the second part of a new mailbag.

Last week, I asked for non-Damian Lillard trade-related mailbag questions and, to my pleasant surprise, got enough to make the mailbag two parts. You can read part one here. That one covers expectations for Chauncey Billups in year three as a head coach, Nassir Little's role, how long it will take the Trail Blazers to get back to playoff contention and more.

Here's part two, covering some different topics than those ones. There's a lot in here. Thanks as always to my subscribers for supplying great questions on a variety of subjects and proving there's more to talk about deep into the offseason than just the Lillard trade saga, on which there are still no real developments.

As always, if you want to participate in the next one, be sure to become a paid subscriber.

Hi Sean,

I have two non-Dame questions for the mailbag...

1: I have yet to see or hear a clear explanation as to why the Blazers waived Trendon Watford. He isn't a future all-star or even future NBA starter, but he has some compelling off-the-bench playmaking skills and at worst seems like a decent guy to have around at the end of the bench for a change of pace during the season. Especially after the way free agency shook out (Drew leaving, Blazers picking up nobody) I don't really get what the rationale was here. What gives?

2: This is more of a curiosity question, but when the Blazers axed GM-who-shall-not-be-named in 2021, there were a lot of rumblings that there was going to be a breach-of-contract lawsuit coming from his end back to the Blazers. Did anything ever happen there? I assume they either settled with him out of court or whatever he did to get fired was so egregious that they were able to compel him to stand down on the threat.... Or perhaps there was never any fire to that smoke to begin with. Any ideas?

- Sean F.

On Watford: It was a combination of two things.