The Trail Blazers have put forward Jeremy Sochan on waivers, according to a team press release, and if he goes unclaimed he’ll become an unrestricted free agent on Monday.
Sochan was in camp on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal, and Portland’s move leaves the roster at 17 players under contract - 14 on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
The 23-year-old forward entered the league as the No. 9 pick in the 2022 draft and spent the first three-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Spurs. At 6-foot-8, he averaged at least 11 points per game in each of his first three years while San Antonio kept shifting his role, at times using him as a point guard or even a small-ball center.
His fourth season in 2025/26 went differently. Sochan slipped out of the regular rotation, then was released after the trade deadline and landed with the Knicks. He barely saw the floor there, logging 6.9 minutes per game across 16 regular season appearances and 3.3 minutes per game in eight playoff games, but he still ended up with his first NBA title when New York beat his old team in the NBA Finals.
Over 228 regular season games, Sochan has put up averages of 9.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, shooting .470 from the field, .286 from three, and .725 at the line.
Portland’s choice to waive him stands out a bit, considering the Blazers are thin at forward behind Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara. Sochan also turned in a decent preseason, posting 6.0 rebounds and 3.8 rebounds with a .625 field goal percentage in 12.2 minutes per game over four games.
The Blazers could have simply converted his camp deal into a standard non-guaranteed contract and kept him as their 15th man to start the season while remaining well under the luxury tax line. Instead, it appears Portland may open the year with an empty spot on the 15-man roster.
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