Add one more thing to the Portland Trail Blazers “to-do” list this offseason. David Aldridge of TNT first reported that guard Arron Afflalo has opted out of his player option and will become a unrestricted free agent.
Per sources, G Arron Afflalo expected to opt out of ’15-’16 ($7.75M) to become UFA. Obv key for Portland 2 re-sign w/Wes Matthews rehabbing.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) June 22, 2015
This move does save a decent amount of cash which is a good time for them because three of their starters (LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews and Robin Lopez) are set to become free agents. Portland’s main priority is signing those three guys above in that exact order. Afflalo, along with Alonzo Gee, was acquired at the trade deadline this past season from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Will Barton, Victor Claver and Thomas Robinson. Afflalo was viewed as the sixth man and improving the Blazers horrific bench but was thrown into the starting lineup due to Wesley Matthews tearing his achilles. He averaged 10.6 points in 25 games played. He also missed the first two games of their first round matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.
I think this move is definitely going to help the Trail Blazers because its just extra spending cash they can use to sign those main guys mentioned above. There will be a good market for Afflalo because any team could use a scoring wing off the bench or into the starting lineup. With Matthews uncertainty with his a chillies we may just see Arron Afflalo back in a Portland Jersey opening night.
