I think this has been mentioned but the Blazers are willing to trade a pick for cap relief, which we could offer. They have the #15, #20, and #26 picks in the first round.
Both the Knicks and Nets have been linked to them already but the Suns could make a play also, the Blazers are about $12 million over the luxury tax threshold. They have a few awful contracts on their books, like Allan Crabbe who is owed 56.4 million over the next 3 years, Evan Turner who is owed 54 million over the next 3 years and both Meyers Lenard and Mo Harkless are due around 32 million a piece over the next 3 years. They spent very poorly last offseason and have the 2nd highest payroll in the league now, which is a lot for an 8th seed and they need to free up money to extend Nurkic. Here is a link to the rumor...
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/new...ess-meyers-leonard/1tr94zzdk6tn513s4w6jy9nju4
Leonard is the only player who I'd be interested in. He's one of the players they're looking to move since they don't need him after acquiring Nurkic at the deadline, who will be a restricted free agent next summer if he's not extended. They also have Festus Ezeli, Ed Davis, and Noah Vonleh under contract for less and/or shorter deals than Leonard which is why they want to move him. His contract has 3 years and $32 million left on it, which is about what we signed Dudley for and I bet Len gets offered more from someone in free agency, he'd probably ask for more than that from us anyways. In Portland, Leonard would never be more than a backup with Nurkic there also. Nurkic was a surprise and pushed them into the postseason.
I would gladly take their lowest pick, #26, in exchange for the 2nd rounders we got from Toronto to absorb his contract. I doubt they'd give up a higher pick since Crabbe and Turner make much more, they'd need those to sweeten the pot for any takers. If it meant we'd let Len walk, I would take him without one of their picks this year though. He's 7'1" and can shoot the 3 well, 35% last season and 37% over the last 3 seasons. Plus he can play both Power Forward or Center. He's only 1 year older than Len but he also has 1 year more experience in the league, and some brief playoff experience. He'll be 25 next season and 27 when his contract expires.
He averaged 5.4 ppg with 3.2 rpg but that was only in 16.5 minutes a game but he shot 35% from 3 last year on 3 attempts per game, 37% over the last 3 years on 2.9 attempts. He'd give us a legit 7'1" Center who could spread the floor, which would help open up everything offensively. Len, Chandler, and Williams all need to be within 10 feet of the basket to provide any offense, which can clog the lane for Bledsoe, Ulis, or Knight when driving. We haven't had a Center who could spread the floor and draw out the opposing bigs, which we haven't had since Frye, who also shot 37% his final year here. I think he could learn under Chandler, while Tyson is still here, which should help with his rebounding.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leoname01.html