The Portland Trail Blazers currently have a 72.1 million dollar cap, all of this but 8.7 million has been used, leaving them with the 8th most free cap space in the league.

Here's a look at the Blazers money for the upcoming offseason:

Imgage/data Credit: spotrac.com

With Aldridge coming off of contract, the Blazers free up $16 million, and another $19 million with Matthews, Lopez, Wright, and Freeland coming off of contract. Alonzo Gee was acquired mid season in the deal for Aaron Afflalo, and will likely not be re-signed. His cap hit was $900k. That being said, Aaron Afflalo plans to opt out of his contract, providing the Blazers with another $7.7 million. Steve Blake's stance on his player option is unknown. In total, the Blazers will have $47 million in cap space free.

If Aldridge decides to return to the Blazers, he will command $21.8 million of that cap space. This leaves the Blazers with $26 million.

If Matthews Stays, the Blazers won't want to spend more than another $8 million on him (which will likely cause him to leave), leaving them with $18 million, $7 million of which will likely be used on Lopez.

If Aldridge and Matthews Return

So, assuming the three major Blazer players stay, the Blazers will have $11 plus the $8 million already free to sign free agents. The Blazers will have to use this $19 million to make aggressive pushes at role players to fill the bench out.

If only Aldridge Returns

If Aldridge Returns, and Matthews decides that the Blazers can't offer him enough money, Portland will likely try and chase some bigger names in the free agent market, and then sign some cheaper players to fill the holes.

If only Matthews Returns

If only Wesley Matthews returns to the Blazers, Portland is prepared to go a new direction with the team, with Damian Lillard leading the charge. The Blazers will likely make a bid for Marc Gasol, but when he returns to Memphis, the Blazers will likely make an offer to Greg Monroe. This is also where a Batum Trade comes into play. Batum will be entering the last year of his maximum contract deal (11 million remaining). If the Blazers can find a suitable replacement, Batum will likely be traded.

If Neither Return

If neither Wesley Matthews nor LaMarcus Aldridge return to the Blazers next year, they will be making extremely aggressive moves in the offseason. Batum will more than likely be traded, and the Blazers will have enough money to sign any free agent on the market for more than any other team can offer. Here are the players that the Blazers will likely make offers to:

Marc Gasol

DeAndre Jordan

Enes Kanter

Brandan Wright

Greg Monroe

Iman Shumpert

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About the author
Rishi Purohit
Head of the NBA Department at VAVEL USA