NBA rumors reveal that a new Team has the highest payroll in the league. AS the 2017-18 NBA season approaches, the Portland Trail Blazers have temporarily taken over as the team with the highest payroll. While the Cleveland Cavaliers could catch them again with a few additional free agent acquisitions, the Blazers currently hold the top spot.

Counting only the contracts currently in place and including the two rookies the Blazers just drafted (like Zach Collins out of Gonzaga), the team is on the hook for roughly $134.7 million for the upcoming NBA season.

In comparison, the Cavs are now at roughly $126.7 million, but that number will surely increase during this current offseason.

Who do the Portland Trail Blazers have on that hefty payroll?

There are a lot of players on the current roster who will be making huge salaries for the upcoming season, with some NBA rumors even indicating that the team is working on the trade market to add more players. The current payroll includes the salaries (rounded) or Damian Lillard at $26.2 million, C.J. McCollum at $24 million, Allen Crabbe at $18.5 million, Evan Turner at $17.1 million, Meyers Leonard at $9.9 million, Moe Harkless at $9.7 million, Al-Farouq Aminu at $7.3 million, and Ed Davis at $6.4 million.

All of those salaries would make it tough for the Blazers to acquire a player like Carmelo Anthony, who has been mentioned in recent NBA trade rumors unless a team like the New York Knicks is willing to take back salaries. It has forced the Blazers to be a bit quiet during free agency, without the possibility of landing any of the big names who are still available on the market.

That has, in turn, frustrated a number of fans who were hoping for a big improvement during the offseason.

Are the Blazers good enough to make the NBA Playoffs?

The Portland Trail Blazers return most of the roster that got them to the 2017 NBA Playoffs and have added two good players during the 2017 NBA Draft that could help those efforts.

Last season, the Golden State Warriors knocked them out in the first round, but now the team will have a full season of Jusuf Nurkic in the starting lineup. There are some analysts in Las Vegas that don’t feel the Blazers will make the postseason, predicting them to have an even worse record than last year.

It might seem odd to fans of other NBA teams that the Portland Trail Blazers currently have a higher payroll than any other franchise. It will lead to a very painful moment when owner Paul Allen has to pay the luxury tax penalties next summer. If the Blazers do end up falling out of contention this season, look for the front office to start dumping contracts, nearly guaranteeing that the Blazers will get mentioned in many NBA rumors.