The battle for the Portland Trail Blazers' 15th roster spot had a surprise winner: No one.

The team on Friday waived Anthony Morrow, Archie Goodwin and Isaiah Briscoe, cutting bait on all three of the players who entered training camp fighting for the 15th and final spot on the regular season roster.

Instead of keeping a veteran sharpshooter (Morrow), a rookie with potential (Briscoe) or a player who scored 23 points in his preseason finale (Goodwin), the Blazers elected to keep an open roster spot and save a little money as they enter the season sporting the fourth-highest payroll in the NBA and staring at a potential luxury tax bill.

"We wanted to have an open roster spot," coach Terry Stotts said. "Being a luxury tax team -- this is probably more of a question for Neil (Olshey) than for me -- it's an added expense. I think the open roster spot was important."

Morrow, the nine-year NBA veteran, seemed to have the inside track at the roster spot. He not only boasts one of the most accurate long-range jumpers in NBA history at a time the Blazers need to replace Allen Crabbe, but Morrow also drew praise from teammates for his professionalism and leadership after only a few days in Portland.

Morrow showed a glimpse of his value in the Blazers' exhibition victory over the Toronto Raptors earlier this month, making 4 of 5 three-pointers and finishing with 12 points in eight minutes. He ended up shooting 46 percent from three-point range (6 of 13) in five games with the Blazers, even better than his career shooting percentage (41.7), which is the fifth-best active mark in the NBA and 13th-best in league history.

Morrow said he would be open to an opportunity with another NBA team if one reaches out. But he already had started contemplating the end of his NBA career late last summer, when he lingered on the open market as a free agent, so he said he's prepared for whatever lies ahead. When asked about his next move, Morrow laughed.

"Go home and play with my kids," he said. "That's the next step."

Morrow has four young children, including a 5-year old boy and 11-month old twin boys in Charlotte. If he doesn't wind up on another team, he said he'd keep an eye on his former teammates in Portland.

"It's going to be a bright future for this team," he said. "Looking forward to it. I'm going to be watching."

Goodwin, the No. 29 overall pick of the 2013 NBA draft, averaged 6.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists for the Blazers during the preseason. And Briscoe, an undrafted rookie trying to crack an NBA roster, averaged 6.2 points, 2.3 assists and 1.7 rebounds.

Stotts said the decision to waive all three players was anything but easy.

But the move gives the Blazers roster flexibility and keeps them close enough to the tax line -- they're roughly $2.9 million into the tax -- that they could easily make moves to avoid it later in the season if they choose to.

In the end, it didn't make sense adding salary for a player who likely would have started the season on the inactive list.

"There were reasons to keep all three of them," Stotts said. "But, certainly, Anthony's shooting ability was a strong consideration. He's been doing it in the league for a long time. I think he's over 40 (in his) career. So that is an NBA skill that certainly is worth consideration."

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman