The Portland Trail Blazers made a lot of changes to their roster this season and decided that they would go in a much younger direction after losing four-fifths of their starting lineup from a year ago. The Blazers feel they have a few foundational pieces to becoming a great team in the future in Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard, but they are 11-18 so far this season, and one of those young pillars, Leonard, has not played well. Leonard was eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but he reportedly turned down a "considerable" offer from the Blazers, according to Jason Quick of CSN Northwest.
There were reports right before the season started that contract talks between Leonard and the Blazers were set to heat up, but nothing ever came from them. There are reports out there that believe Portland's offer to Leonard was four years for $60 million, but that has not been confirmed. The Blazers are extremely high on Leonard, as he is a 7-foot-1 player who can shoot the lights out from the free throw line and three-point line, and he can run the floor really well.
Leonard could have taken the extension offer as financial security, but instead he decided to bet on himself this season, as he figured he would have a bigger role, but things haven't exactly worked out great so far. Leonard has missed seven games this season due to a shoulder injury, and during the 22 games he has been on the floor he is averaging just 8.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while making just 41 percent of his field goals and 24 percent of his threes. Leonard has also lost his starting spot to Noah Vonleh, and his minutes are down to 23.8 per game.
Leonard will become a restricted free agent at the end of this season, so he is still likely to remain in Portland, but it is fair to wonder how much money he might make if he continues to struggle this season. The truth is he still might make just as much or even more than the extension would have given him because the cap is going up significantly and he is a 23-year-old with massive upside and an extremely unique skillset. The reported $15 million a year would be a lot of money to have turned down, but Leonard has no regrets, and he feels that he is close to getting back to playing the way he knows he can.
"Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Because the thing is, the structure and mechanics are still the same, I just haven't been knocking down shots. I feel myself getting better. I know I'm going to be just fine," said Leonard when asked if turning down the extension was still the right move.
