Here's your rundown on the Trail Blazers and free agency

Pritchard, 76ers pooh-pooh an Andre Miller deal

By Kerry Eggers

The Portland Tribune, Jun 30, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

CHRIS GRAYTHEN / GETTY IMAGES

Dallas guard Jason Kidd, getting encouragement during a pregame introduction from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (left), is being wooed by Cuban, the New York Knicks and others as a top NBA free agent.

Wednesday is a big day in the NBA, the day when team executives can begin the process of negotiating contracts with players and trades with other teams.

There’s little doubt that the cell phone of Portland General Manager Kevin Pritchard is getting a workout.

The Trail Blazers won’t know until next Tuesday the exact number at which the league’s salary cap is set, but they figure they’ll be somewhere between $7 million and $8 million under the cap, which should be in the $58 million range.

That affords the opportunity to do a lot of things.

Portland can do an uneven trade – meaning, it can send a player making a certain salary to another team and reap a player with a higher salary in return.

It can sign one, perhaps two of the 154 veterans available on the free-agent market.

The Blazers also can commence negotiations on contract extensions for their two most important players – Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge – deals that can be signed beginning on July 8. Roy and Aldridge, both locked in by Portland for another year on their contracts, can be extended five additional years at maximum salaries and at a 10.5-percent annual increase.

Portland is the only team that can negotiate with Roy and Aldridge, and their extensions don’t affect the team’s cap space this summer. It would seem a foregone conclusion both Roy will get a max deal, which would likely be in the range of $77 million apiece for five years. Aldridge will get a substantial contract, too, but probably for less than the maximum.

There are only seven teams, incidentally, with potentially significant cap space. Besides Portland, they are Detroit, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Toronto (if the Raptors let Shawn Marion go) and Atlanta (if the Hawks release cap holds on Marvin Williams and Josh Childress). Teams that are under the cap extinguish all of their exceptions, including the mid-level, which is expected to be about $5.5 million.

Pritchard shot down one rumor – the Blazers sending Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw to Philadelphia in a sign-and-trade for Andre Miller – Tuesday night.

“No,” Pritchard said in a text message when asked if the trade would happen.

“Nothing to it,” a 76ers representative said to the same query.

That doesn’t mean a deal for Miller couldn’t still happen for Portland.

The Blazers would seem to be in the market for a high-end point guard. Three are available through free agency – Miller, Jason Kidd and Mike Bibby.

Miller, 33, received $10.3 million in the final year of his contract with Philadelphia last season. The 76ers say it is a priority to re-sign him this summer. Miller is hoping for a three-year contract, probably worth about $30 million.

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