Is it really true that Afflalo has opted out of his deal, freeing up over $7 million in cap space??? Surely this is too good to be true!
Yes he plans on opting out of his contract to get a multiyear deal. Maybe seeing Matthews get that serious injury made him seek a multi-year deal?
Both good & bad. Good to not have him, but bad because now we can't trade him. It's always nice to have a couple mid-tier guys on moderate contracts to aid with trades. With him opting out, Gee done, Rolo done, Wright done and Blake being Blake we don't have much to make trades. And trades are much more likely to improve the team than Free Agency.
But is it true? If it is, the good far outweighs the bad, because after his season, I don't think anybody would trade for him. Remember that we got him essentially for a song - the team that got him waived two of the players immediately.
Considering the level of reporting accuracy throughout that post of Stein's, I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in what he's hearing.
Maybe Afflalo is opting out just to pre-empt being traded as an expiring. (Because otherwise he's being pretty wildly irresponsible turning down $7 + mil.) In which case, fair play to him. I still say it's nice to have the cap room.
Ya'll. if AA was here and used as intended with the trade, he's money. I love AA. Wish he would stay.
Backups as of now: PG Frazier SG CJ SF Afflalo PF Meyers C Kaman Plus or instead whoever we sign this summer, probably a PG or SF. That's a LOT better bench than we've had in a LONG time.
I would add Freeland on there. He has some value because he is bigger. He can back up either center or PF.
I agree for sure. A lot of posters are sure Freeland won't be back. I was surprised he got no run in the playoffs (injured?). I would keep him if possible. LaMarcus/Meyers/Rolo/Kaman/Freeland still looks pretty good to me. Of course, upgrades are always the goal, but barring that, I'm cool bringing back that lineup.
He won't do it officially until the deadline on June 30th. There is no benefit for him to do it earlier but if he got in a car wreck or some other unlikely event he could cancel and decide to keep the $7.5 million. We won't be able to use any of his cap space until he signs a new contract or we renounce his rights. This is bad news for the Blazers in that he has value on a $7.5 million expiring contract. Sure there is a chance we could resign him or find a better use of that salary but from what we know now the Blazers are going to lose an asset when he opts out.
Frazier got cut by the worst team in the league but you think he's ready to be a rotational player? I expect him to be cut before training camp. I doubt Afflalo comes back if we resign Wes. The rest of our bench looks better than in years past but its still very unproven. Rolo has never looked worse as a Blazer starter. Lillard ended the year poorly and for the season was the 10th most accurate Blazer 3 point shooter. Wes is dealing with a career altering injury. So while I think the bench has more promise than in years past our starters now have more questions. I still like a lot with our team and want to see them give it another go but there could be some big challenges.
Freeland has value at the end of the bench for sure but Neil needs to focus elsewhere first. Once he's locked up the starters, got our draft pick, and used the MLE we can think about retaining Freeland. But will we have another big after those moves? Will we need to use the roster spots on wings or the back court? Will another team offer Freeland a raise from the $3 million he earned? There are scenarios where we could keep him but overall I'd guess odds are the Blazers go in a different direction.
Not disagreeing 100%, but that's a little incomplete way of looking at it IMO. He was cut from his 2nd 10 day contract to make room for them picking up Thomas Robinson. IIRC if a player is signed beyond their 2nd 10 day they become a remainder of the year player, so in reality they cut the cheapest guy they could to make room for adding salary. Frazier did average 5.7points, 3.2reb and 7.2ast in 6 games. He also won D-League ROY and MVP. I know it's d-League, but he has game... Regular rotation game? Not sure yet, but it is nice IMO to have him locked up for now.
He was cut to bring in a few months rental of Thomas Robinson; that tells you all you need to know. Does anyone here want to bring Thomas Robinson back? Frazier is a player with less value than him. The main reason we locked Frzier up is so we can have an unguaranteed contract to throw into a trade that our trading partner can use to cut salary. Its basically a way of getting a trade exception. Blazer fans love to overrate the 15th man on the roster.
He has a chance of getting a $40+ million multi year contract; and at the least will resign a one year deal with a team for $4-5 million. So he earns $30+ million or losses $2 million a damn smart gamble. Yes I get your not a fan of his but your statements are delusional.
