Portland Trail Blazers Team Salary

Quick: Slightly over the cap.

Exceptions: $2.5 million Room Exception; $721,440 DPE (Eliot Williams, expiring on 3/10/13)

Acquisitions: Nicolas Batum, via matched offer sheet from the Minnesota Timberwolves, for four years, $46.1 million.  Re-signed J.J. Hickson for one year at $4 million.  Since Hickson has Bird Rights, he has implicit trade-veto power.  Signed various draft picks Damian Lillard, Meyers Leonard, Will Barton, Joel Freeland and Victor Claver.  Veteran guard Ronnie Prince inked for two-years at $2.4 million.  Traded for Jared Jeffries (three years, $4.6 million but second/third years partial/non-guarantees) and Sasha Pavlovic ($4.1 million over three, second and third years also partial/non-guarantees).  Signed Adam Morrison to an estimated, one-year partial/non-guaranteed contract at the minimum.  Declined options on Luke Babbitt (fourth year), Elliot Williams (fourth year) and Nolan Smith (third year).  Traded the rights to Giorgos Printezis to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Eric Maynor.

Waived Players: Shawne Williams, Adam Morrison, Demonte Harper, Dallas Lauderdale, Coby Karl, Justin Holiday, Ronnie Price

Roster Count: 15 guaranteed

Depth Chart*:
PG: Damian Lillard, Eric Maynor, Nolan Smith
SG: Wesley Matthews, Will Barton, Elliot Williams (injured)
SF: Nicolas Batum, Sasha Pavlovic, Luke Babbitt
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge, Joel Freeland, Jared Jeffries, Victor Claver
C: J.J. Hickson, Meyers Leonard

*Note: Teams often adjust their depth chart throughout the season, sometimes game by game.

Free Agents:  All free agents renounced for cap room.

Head Coach: Terry Stotts

Unsigned Second-Round Picks:  Kosta Papanikolaou, Marcelo Nicola, Federico Kammerichs, Doron Sheffer, Nedzad Sinanovic

Amnesty: Brandon Roy 2012-13 $16,460,548, 2013-14 $17,888,932, 2014-15 $19,317,326

Pick Swaps:

2013 – Owe first-rounder (top-12 protected through 2015, unprotected in 2016) to Charlotte Bobcats (Gerald Wallace).

2013 – Owe second-rounder (top-40 protected, unprotected in 2014) to Denver Nuggets (Raymond Felton).

2013 – Owed second-rounder from Boston Celtics (Sasha Pavlovic).

2013 – Owed second-rounder from Minnesota Timberwolves (Ramon Sessions, Luke Harangody, Sasha Pavlovic).

2015 – Owed second-rounder from Minnesota Timberwolves (Tanguy Ngombo).  The Wolves would send the Denver Nuggets’ second-rounder (Corey Brewer) if lower than their own.

Cash Paid ($3.1 million max): $0

Cap Holds
Key: B = Bird Rights; E = Early Bird Rights; BR = Bird/Restricted; NB = Non-Bird;
DF = Declined Option on First-Round Scale; WB = Waived Bird; M = Minimum

Name201320152016
TOTAL$20,147,619$43,286,971$34,682,918
J.J. Hickson$7,600,000-B
Luke Babbitt$2,902,758-D
Elliot Williams$2,373,538-D
Nolan Smith$1,424,520-D
Eric Maynor$5,846,803-B
LaMarcus Aldridge$16,543,800-B
Wesley Matthews$10,868,460-B
Joel Freeland$5,725,673-B
Jared Jeffries$3,054,945-B
Victor Claver$2,603,000-B
Sasha Pavlovic$2,752,131-B
Will Barton$1,738,962-B
Nicolas Batum$16,402,500-B
Damian Lillard$10,590,718-B
Meyers Leonard$7,689,700-B

What is a cap hold? A cap hold is the amount of space a free agent counts towards a team’s cap. These “cap holds” factor in when a team signs free agents. If they didn’t exist, a team could use their cap space to sign other free agents until the space was gone, and then re-sign their own free agents using the Bird exception. A cap hold cannot exceed the maximum contract offer that player can receive on the open market (as defined by years of experience – indicated in the table above by MAX followed by the years of experience). The cap hold disappears if the team renounces their own free agent, that free agent signs with a new team, or re-signs with the same team.

Notes: A free agent does not become restricted until the team issues a qualifying offer.  If a player’s option on a first-round rookie scale contract is declined (DF), the most the team can pay is the amount of the declined option (without using a larger exception or cap room).  Should a player allow for their Bird Rights to be waived during the season in trade (WB), the most the team can pay is 120% of their prior salary (without using a larger exception or cap room).

Qualifying offers do not count towards the total team salary for that season and are informational only.

Unsigned first-round picks (UF) are not guaranteed until signed but their salary counts against the cap during the offseason.  A typical UF gets a bump of 120% upon signing.

Players with at least three years of experience who are signed to a one-year, vet-min contract are only charged $854,389 to the cap and tax.  Actual salary amount, which applies to trades is listed under notes.

“Camp invites” can put a team over the hard cap but the math must be resolved by opening night.

Salary and team data changes quite often. If you notice a discrepancy, please notify HOOPSWORLD Senior Writer Eric Pincus.

(Updated 2/26/2013)