Blazers decline options on Luke Babbitt, Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams

I doubt the Jazz will let Al walk without trading him for some value, but the Blazers are obviously gearing up for the 2013 FA market.

 I’m not sure if they’ll take a run at a big name, they seem pretty much set at every position outside of C, and if Leonard comes along quicker than anticipated they won’t need to splash out for one either. 

I think it’s more likely they add some depth to their bench and get a few vets who know how to play without costing a fortune.

I feel bad for Elliot Williams. One cannot blame Portland for declining the option after an Oden-like run, but Williams is still a guy that no one knows if he can play in the league or not. He has all of 150 NBA minutes under him, and his injuries have been to a different body part every time.

I think they might try to make a run at either Josh Smith or Taj Gibson. They got away from playing defense last year, and it is hard to be a good defensive team with a roster full young players. Even if they like Freeland and Leonard, it will not hurt to add another frontcourt player to the mix.

 Nolan Smith shoulda got his option picked up

Brandon Roy’s salary still counts against the cap so they will not have that much cap space to land a major FA but if Jefferson is likely to move on then Utah will look for some trade value and Portland will have the unpicked up option guys plus Hickson and Williams on one year deals so the salaries would match. But Utah would most likely want a pick and both Portland and Utah are late lottery/7th or 8th play off teams so the value of any pick traded could be quite variable. Portland would naturally put some protection on it perhaps top 3 and would perhaps be reluctant to trade a 2013 draft pick away as that could well be lottery but if they got Jefferson early enough in the season they could be a play off contender.

Portland look as if they are streamling their roster given the amount of rookies they have this year, the guys are all still young so will have legit shots at getting on another team.

This might be a good move for all 3 players,because Portland never gave them a chance..Smith & Babbitt never got much playing time and Williams had to deal with injuries..I heard Minnesota tried to swing a deal for Babbitt during the summer..

The problem with these group,is that none of them have a true position…This isnt the end for them,but they must go to a team,while the coach know how to use…