Portland Trail Blazers Make Decision on Tim Quarterman’s Contract Status

1/7/2017, 3:00 pm Update: The deadline for waiving Tim Quarterman has passed, and the Portland Trail Blazers have made no announcement. Barring a belated statement, Tim Quarterman’s contract will now officially become guaranteed on January 10th.

Undrafted rookie Tim Quarterman, a 6-6 guard out of LSU, is currently on a partially guaranteed contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Teams have until January 7 at 5:00 p.m. ET to sign players with partially or non-guaranteed contracts to guaranteed contracts through the end of the season. If the team declines to guarantee the contract by that date, the player enters waivers, making him eligible to be immediately be signed to a guaranteed contract from any other team. If the player is not claimed and and clears waivers, he is eligible to be signed by the team that waived him to a 10-day contract.

The Vertical’s Bobby Marks breaks down Quarterman’s situation:

Portland is currently $27,000 below the tax line and faces a decision on Quarterman.

If Quarterman is retained, the Trail Blazers would be limited not only from a roster standpoint but also from adding a player down the road and staying under the tax.

Releasing Quarterman would put Portland $487,000 below the tax, enough to add a veteran player if needed.

Quarterman’s contract is worth $543,471, and the salary cap hit against the Trail Blazers if he is indeed waived would be $246,160. In the 12 games he has appeared in this season, he has averaged 1.3 points in 3.3 minutes per appearance. The question boils down to whether the Blazers would rather keep and develop Quarterman, with the hopes that he eventually matures into a rotation player, or opt to sign a veteran free agent and potentially improve their chances of winning this year.