At least there will be continuity at point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Entering what could be a tumultuous offseason, the Blazers have four players under guaranteed contracts for 2015-16, two of whom can play the point in place of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. A third point guard opted in on Friday, with the Blazers announcing that Steve Blake has exercised his player option for next season.
Blake's decision was more or less a no-brainer, as the option is valued at $2.2 million, more than he'd probably command elsewhere. For Portland, it's a veteran hand for roughly the bi-annual exception and while they maybe would have liked the flexibility of the extra bit of cap space, returning the 35-year-old at that price is hardly cumbersome.
In 81 games this season, Blake averaged 4.3 points and 3.6 assists in 18.9 minutes, knocking down 35.2 percent of his 3-point attempts. He's a 38.5-percent marksman from outside over his 12-year career, most of which has been spent as a quality backup.
Depending on what happens with Portland's bevy of free-agent wings, the team could opt to add another point guard in order to use McCollum exclusively at the two. McCollum averaged 6.8 points in his sophomore season but was excellent with a larger load in the playoffs, averaging 17 points in 33.2 minutes over five games, almost entirely at shooting guard.
A three-time member of the Blazers, Blake changed his jersey number to No. 5 this season to honor the late Jerome Kersey.
