The Portland Trail Blazers are spending too much money for a team that won just 21 games this past season.
That’s why Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes has identified the No. 1 goal for the Blazers this summer is to get out of the tax.
At present, they look poised to field a $178 million payroll after accounting for salaries allotted to a pair of first-round picks and the non-guaranteed salaries for Toumani Camara and Jabari Walker.
Unless something changes, Portland won’t have access to the full MLE and could even risk hard-capping itself by taking back more money than it sends out in a trade.