FanPost

Blazers acquire Sasha Pavlovic from Celtics in Courtney Lee Deal?

It appears that the Portland Blazers acquired Sasha Pavlovic (SF) from the Boston Celtic's last night, playing the part of facilitator for Boston's acquisition of Courtney Lee in exchange for Houston's JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore and Sean Williams. Pavlovic would join the recently wrangled Nicolas Batum and newly signed Victor Claver at small forward filling the final roster spot. Per StoryTeller's Contracts, Pavlovic earned $854,389 last season and would presumably carry that veteran's minimum salary into the coming season.

Just this Wednesday, Blazers GM Neil Olshey commented on the roster that he would, "... hold the last roster sport for a little while to have some flexibility for trades or some further free agent acquisition." The reported Pavlovic acquisition might be part of a larger acquisition strategy, but one might suppose that it's simply a move to wrap up free agency this year and maneuver for an impact acquisition at another time. That would likely leave the Blazers to play small ball this year, leaving Blazers rookie Meyers Leonard to be the only true center. This might not be a bad approach, as the youth, speed and length on this team would welcome the chance to run.

The news comes from HoopsRumors here.