The Portland Trail Blazers have roughly three bajillion bigs on their roster.
And Ed Davis doesn’t care.
The 28-year-old, who is still working his way back from season-ending shoulder surgery last February, will wrap up the three-year, $20 million he signed in 2015 at the end of 2016-17—at which point he hopes to re-sign with the Blazers, per the Portland Tribune‘s Kerry Eggers:
Davis feels he has found a home in Portland and would like to sign a new deal here.
“I really enjoy the organization, the teammates and the coaching staff,” he says.
And the fans?
“I don’t even have to speak on that,” he says. “It’s the best fan base in the NBA. They support us when we win and when we struggle, that’s for sure. They’re the best. I appreciate them having our backs.”
It’s always good to hear about connections that players feel to their city and teams and fans. And prior to Davis’ injury, he was an extremely useful player to the Blazers. He spent a lot of time chasing around 4s, even though he works best as a center, which helped head coach Terry Stotts run out dual-big combinations that didn’t sacrifice much, if any, defensive versatility.
Still, it doesn’t feel like Davis will be in Portland for long.
Zach Collins, Meyers Leonard, Noah Vonleh, Caleb Swanigan and Jusuf Nurkic all factor into the fight for frontcourt minutes. Ideally, the Blazers also need to carve out spin at the 4 for Evan Turner, Moe Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu, which further crunches their rotation. Stir in contract years for Nurkic and Vonleh as well, along with the Blazers’ already-tenuous cap situation, and it’ll take a monster shakeup in the frontcourt for them to justify paying him beyond next year.
