The Trail Blazers used their mid-level exception on Chris Kaman, removing their biggest weapon for re-signing Mo Williams.
That leaves Portland in need of a backup point guard.
Enter Steve Blake.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com:
The full bi-annual exception pays $4,247,465. I’m not sure whether Berger was rounding or Blake took a little less. Obviously, that small difference doesn’t matter much.
Blake is a familiar face in Portland, where he’ll join the Blazers for his third separate stint. This time around, he’ll back up Damian Lillard.
Blake finished last season in Golden State, somewhat adequately filling the Warriors’ need for a backup point guard. But it should be telling they prioritized an upgrade at that spot this offseason, signing Shaun Livingston. At 34, Blake will likely fall short of his previous production in Portland, so the Trail Blazers shouldn’t expect too much. He’s an above-average backup at this point, but not much more.
For the record, this doesn’t change what Portland can offer Williams. His non-Bird rights still allow room for a four-year, $13,588,848 contract with the The Trail Blazers. But considering Portland just filled his role and he can likely make more elsewhere, Williams is likely moving on.