Portland Trail Blazers will struggle if they drop Brandon Roy through Amnesty Clause – NBA Feature
As per the handshake deal between the players and owners, a new amnesty clause will be included in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. With the introduction of this new clause, NBA teams can opt to drop one of their heavily paid players and free up their salary cap.
As a result of that, we might see several teams using that option and in the list of probable candidates, Portland Trail Blazers spring a surprise.
As per the sources, the Trail Blazers are planning to axe their 27 years old shooting guard Brandon Roy. The Trail Blazers are not just waiving Roy because of his salary, but also due to the fact that the 6-foot-6 star is injury prone and failed to put up good numbers in the previous season with the Trail Blazers.
Roy scored at an average of 12.2 points per game last season, which saw his rebounds (2.6 per game) and assists (2.7 per game) also drop from his career average of 19.0 points, 4.3 boards and 4.7 assists.
Considering these stats, it seems that the Trail Blazers have made the right decision.
However, there is another side to this story. This sudden drop in the numbers of Roy came because the 211 pounds athlete failed to play the full season. Although, Brandon has never played full quota of 82 games in a single season during his entire career, but previous season record was his lowest ever so far.
Brandon played just 47 games in the season and missed the rest, as he had to go through a surgery on both his knees. Brandon returned to the court in February 2011, but didn’t look comfortable.
However that still does not justify the move.
Roy is still a superstar and he pretty much justifies that notion in the first round of playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks last season. With Roy on the bench, the Mavs eased to consecutive victories at the start of the series.
A sidelined Roy burst emotionally at that point and in the game-3 his desire to participate was fulfilled.
And boy did he make use of that chance.
In a series that was considered as a walk in the park for the Mavs, Roy turned the tide and single handedly gave the Trail Blazers the next two wins. Although the Mavs won and went on to be the NBA champions, they never faced a resistance of that sort during their journey.
Roy announced himself for the second time in his career back then and the Portland fans will surely want to have some more of him. Considering his past performance and work ethics, the need of the hour is that Trail Blazers should reconsider their decision and give Brandon a chance to prove his worth.
Roy has the capability to make a comeback, period. And, if the Trail Blazers let him go, they may not find a player like him any time. After all, having one or two superstars instead of many good players, is all that is required for the ultimate glory.
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