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The Portland Trail Blazers have requested waivers on guard Brandon Roy and designated him as the team’s amnesty player, the team announced today.
“Brandon’s announcement that he is leaving the game ultimately shifted our decision to amnesty,” said Trail Blazers Acting General Manager Chad Buchanan. “We’re given the immediate option to obtain additional salary cap flexibility as we will no longer be in the Luxury Tax – something that is critical to improving our team and helping us recover from the loss of a player of Brandon’s caliber.”
Roy, 27, played five NBA seasons for the Trail Blazers, cementing himself as one of the greatest players to ever suit up in Portland with career averages of 19.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.03 steals and 35.6 minutes in 321 career games (295 starts).
“When faced with this decision, it made the most sense for us to amnesty his contract,” said Trail Blazers President Larry Miller. “We have a solid core group of players that we want to continue to build around. We owe it to our fans to put the best possible product on the court and this puts us in a better position to do that sooner rather than later. We once again want to thank Brandon for his many contributions as a Trail Blazer and wish him the best in his life after basketball.”
Roy led the Trail Blazers in scoring in three consecutive seasons from 2007-10. He became the first Trail Blazer since 1991-92 to rank among the NBA’s top 10 scorers when his 22.6 points per game ranked 10th in the league in 2008-09.
In just five seasons with the Trail Blazers, Roy ranks 15th on the team’s all-time scoring list with 6,107 career points. On Jan. 10, 2010, Roy became the third-fastest Trail Blazer to record 5,000 career points (247 games). He also ranks 12th among Portland’s all-time leaders in career assists (1,494) and 10th in 3-point field goals (322).
In 15 career playoff appearances (seven starts), Roy averaged 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 30.6 minutes. In his first career postseason, he averaged 26.7 points in six games in 2009. His 42 points in Game 2 vs. Houston were the most by a player in his first or second career playoff game in NBA history.
A three-time NBA All-Star (2008-10), Roy earned All-NBA Second Team honors in 2008-09, becoming the first Trail Blazer to garner All-NBA honors since Clyde Drexler did so in 1991-92. He was a five-time winner of the Western Conference’s Player of the Week award, joining Drexler as the only players in franchise history to win the award five times.
Acquired by Portland in a draft-day trade with Minnesota, Roy was the sixth overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft out of the University of Washington.