The Portland Trail Blazers’ luxury tax bill came due today. There’s good news and bad news as the receipt spills out.
First, the bad news. Despite a train wreck of a season, saved only by their impressive performance over eight regular-season games in the Orlando Bubble, the Blazers paid more salary and luxury tax penalty than any team in the NBA.
NBA tax bills for 2019-20, as distributed to teams today:
Portland $5,082,084
Miami $2,461,242
Oklahoma City $2,102,278
Minnesota $497,502— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) November 12, 2020Let’s let that sink in for a moment.