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Portland Trail Blazers Finalizing a Deal with Forward Ed Davis

Blazers acquire another former lottery pick to bolster their roster.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that the Portland Trail Blazers are prepared to sign power forward Ed Davis.

The 26-year-old Davis was the 13th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, continuing Portland's summer trend of acquiring recent former lottery picks. He's played 5 seasons in the league, bouncing between Toronto, Memphis, and most recently the Los Angeles Lakers, for whom he scored 8.3 points with 7.6 rebounds on 60% shooting from the field in 23.3 minutes per game. Fitting Portland's mold, he's an ultra-strong offensive rebounder and shows well in many advanced statistical categories. His biggest weakness: a 48.7% clip from the foul line.

Update: Woj has plenty to say about this move.

Dave's Commentary: Wojnarowski seems to be going to great pains to have us avoid the obvious leap that signing a power forward means the Blazers won't retain Aldridge. Davis started 24 games for the Lakers last year, playing in 79, so he has some tread on him. He could go either way, starter or bench.

Kevin Pelton offers:

Dave's Commentary: I'd say Davis is, or has the chance to be, a better defender than the other three. He's another guy whose offense comes primarily at the rim, though. Portland could field a range-heavy duo with Leonard and Vonleh or--with Al-Farouq Aminu--they could throw out a lineup consisting of Damian Lillard and 4 guys making a wall right at the rim, hoping for an offensive rebound.

For me this calls into question whether the Blazers will try to get Robin Lopez to return. It sure seems like they got younger, cheaper versions of him already. These guys are rebounders and are bound to the bucket on offense but they're more athletic and should be able to range farther on defense than Lopez. How many players of that job description do you need? Obviously they're not exact duplicates, but they feel more like replacements than companion pieces.

Our own erastus25 gives the salary implications with and without Lopez/Aldridge:

WITHOUT LOPEZ OR ALDRIDGE:

WITH LOPEZ AND ALDRIDGE:

Final Thoughts: Overall this is a pretty good pick-up. The Blazers get yet another rebounder, yet another young athlete. It sure looks like dominating the glass, bruising, and running will be on the menu next season.