By my count, the Blazers have 13 players that they are likely to keep from last year.
Everyone expects them to bring over Rudy Fernandez from Spain, which would make 14.
There have even been noises about Finnish point guard Petteri Koponen, drafted in the first-round last year, looking more ready than ever. So there's one candidate for the 15th and final roster spot.
Then the Blazers have a lottery pick (the 13th), and three second-round picks -- two of which are coveted high second-round picks (coveted, because they don't come with the fixed salaries of the first-round).
Now there's word that Kevin Pritchard has once again used Paul Allen's formidable stack of chips to buy a late first-round pick -- the 27th, which once belonged to New Orleans.
So, that's a full or close to full roster, to which the team, at the moment, would appear to be adding five draft picks, in a year when the crop of overseas players -- candidates to develop a few years and join the team later -- is underwhelming.
Dave from BlazersEdge explained tidily why the Blazers will almost certainly be making trades of some kind before the trading deadline. (Essentially, without some moves, the cap room Portland has hoarded for next summer would be eaten up by cap holds.)
With this latest trade, there's just one more reason: too many players. Something has got to give.
In recent years, Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers have been extremely active making trades on draft day. I cant' imagine this year is going to be any different.
UPDATE: Apparetly the cap-hold situation is even worse than Dave from BlazersEdge had explained, because there are additional cap holds for unsigned first-round draft picks (which could include Petteri Koponen and Joel Freeland) and, potentially, an overseas player selected 27th this season.
