Trail Blazers' Interest in Edy Tavares Held Up by International Buyout Rules

The Blazers want to sign the 31-year-old Real Madrid star, but his contract presents a serious hurdle.

EuroHoops.net (YouTube)

Outside of re-signing Jerami Grant and Matisse Thybulle, the Trail Blazers have had a quiet summer while the basketball world waits for Damian Lillard's trade request to be decided one way or another.

The only concrete name Portland has been linked to this offseason is 7-foot-3 Real Madrid center Walter “Edy” Tavares, a 2014 second-round pick who played 13 games over parts of two seasons with the Cavs and Hawks in 2016 and 2017 before returning to Spain.

Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, one of the most reliable and plugged-in reporters covering European basketball, first reported on July 1 that the Blazers were planning to offer Tavares a multi-year contract.

According to league sources, there is mutual interest between the Blazers and Tavares in bringing him over. But his Real Madrid contract includes an expensive buyout clause that would need to be resolved first. It remains to be seen whether a deal will ultimately come to fruition.

Looking at the NBA's rules about teams paying international players' contract buyouts, there is real reason for skepticism that Tavares will be able to join the Blazers this summer unless he's willing to pay a significant amount of money himself to make it happen.