The Portland Trail Blazers are down to one open spot on their 15-man roster, and Micah Potter may have to earn it the hard way.
Portland’s latest move was landing former Boston Celtics guard John Tonje on a two-year, two-way deal, but the front office is still shopping for the final seat at the table. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the Blazers are targeting non-guaranteed contracts and plan to use them as competition for Potter.
"Word is that the Trail Blazers are looking to bring in several players on non-guaranteed contracts to compete alongside Micah Potter for a final roster spot after Portland recently claimed Potter off waivers," Fischer writes.
Potter arrived after the Indiana Pacers waived him to create cap space for former Blazer Larry Nance Jr. Portland will take on his contract, including a $2.8 million team option for 2026-27 that Indiana had already picked up. That option is non-guaranteed, and the Blazers seem ready to use that flexibility as they sort through the last pieces of the roster.
There’s a clear pattern here: Portland is squeezing every bit of leverage out of these final decisions. New owner Tom Dundon appears willing to push that edge wherever he can, and the Blazers are treating those end-of-roster jobs like a competition, not a courtesy. For fringe players, a 15-man roster spot is a prize - and Portland knows it.
Potter still brings something this team needs. He’s a career 38.9 percent three-point shooter, which makes him one of the more dependable floor-spacing bigs on the roster. That alone gives him a real case to stick.
Even if Potter stays, Portland can still use that final roster spot on another wing option, which would help replace the defensive depth lost with players like Kris Murray and, more recently, Matisse Thybulle, who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Behind Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara, the Blazers’ wing and forward depth thins out fast. Keeping Potter for the shooting while adding another two-way wing would give Portland a cleaner balance. The challenge now is simple: find the best available option and make Potter prove he belongs.
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