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Stirring the pot with a marquee addition isn't in the Blazers' immediate future. Their ledger remains muddied from 2016's shopping binge, and they have no obvious way out from under heaping salary obligations.

Incumbent free agency is going to take precedence over pitching outside names. General manager Neil Olshey must reconcile a roster that would still cost more than $115 million if Portland renounces all of its own mercenaries. Let's face it: That's not happening.

Pushing out Pat Connaughton (restricted), Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier (restricted) and Jusuf Nurkic (restricted) is a great way to squander the goodwill built with this year's third-seeded playoff berth. The Blazers won't have the coin to replace all four of their free agents. They'll open up the full mid-level at best—which, when split up, might get them a cheap big and clearance-rack shooter.

Cannonballing into the tax is an inexorable reality. Maybe the Blazers will let two of their own head elsewhere, but re-signing the others will ferry them beyond the $123 million measuring stick. Keeping Nurkic alone does the same.

Portland has the mini mid-level exception to fall back on—assuming ownership green-lights its use. Maybe Paul Allen is willing to dip into the tax after Olshey fudged this season's cap commitments enough to dive under it. But that would be an awful lot to ask any owner following a first-round sweep and no appreciable upgrades.

Failing serious salary-shedding maneuvers, the Blazers should be consigned to surfing the minimum-contract market. Finding gems on a beggar's dime is a matter of luck and proximity to the NBA Finals, but Omri Casspi's unsuccessful tenure with Golden State presents a unique opportunity.

Another team could offer him more, perhaps knifing into their mid-level or bi-annual exceptions. But Casspi's bizarre aversion to threes on the Warriors hurts him. He needs to recapture his sweet-shooting form.

The Blazers should be more than excited to bet small on his redemption. Casspi is just two years removed from swishing 40.9 percent of his threes on 5.2 attempts per 36 minutes, and he remains a good cutter with fair-weather handles and the chops to tussle with small-ball 4s.