The Portland Trail Blazers will likely have to undergo a "fire-sale" this offseason to cushion the impact of Luxury Tax repercussions. Hoops Rumors cap expert Luke Adams expects the Blazers to trade several high-earning players on their roster, excluding Damian Lillard, C.J McCollum and trade deadline pick Jusuf Nurkic.
Busy offseason trades
Dan Favale of Bleacher Report didn’t have to explain comprehensively the bad financial situation the Blazers are in. After spending millions of dollar on free agents the past two seasons, Portland enters the offseason with $132 million in guaranteed salary in the books.
The bulk of this guaranteed money comes from the contracts of Lillard and McCollum, who are set to earn $23M to $26M yearly over the next four seasons.
For a team that barely squeezed into the playoffs, going beyond the salary cap and paying luxury tax gives the entire organization a bad look. Blazers general manager Neil Olshey faces a major in-house cleaning that could lead to trading key players like Allan Crabbe ($18M per year), Evan Turner ($16M), Meyers Leonard ($9M) and Moe Harkless ($9M).
Best trading chips
Among the names mentioned, Crabbe and Harkless are the easiest to sell on the trade market because of what they bring to the table.
The 25-year-old Crabbe averaged 10.7 points on 46 percent shooting and 44 percent from the 3-point line.
He continues to provide excellent minutes off the bench by knocking down treys and playing great defense on the perimeter. However, for a player who just signed $70M over 4 years, Crabbe’s stats don’t merit his huge contract. Perhaps a change of scenery is needed for him to live up to his contract.
The Brooklyn Nets will always welcome the opportunity of acquiring Crabbe since they are the reason why the Blazers had to overpay him in the first place.
The Nets placed a 4-year, $70M offer sheet for Crabbe last summer, but it was surprisingly matched by Olshey.
Portland can get some cap relief by unloading Crabbe to the Nets, who are projected to have $65M in guaranteed salary (way below the salary floor). General manager Sean Marks stressed that his priority this offseason to upgrade the small forward position, and Crabbe apparently fits in nicely.
Harkless is another 3-and-D player cap-rich teams like the Nets and the Sixers will be interested in. He averaged 10 points on 50 percent FG shooting and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Unlike Crabbe, he’s a much cheaper trade target at 9M per year.