Portland Trail Blazers Waive Former 2019 Second-Round Pick

The Portland Trail Blazers announced on Monday that they had waived Didi Louzada, who the team acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans last season.

On Monday afternoon, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that they had waived Didi Louzada.

We have waived Didi Louzada.

Thanks and best of luck, Didi! ❤️https://t.co/23K3O8eFZF pic.twitter.com/DCM7GekYpv

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) August 29, 2022

Louzada, 23, was the 35th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks and he was then dealt on draft night to the New Orleans Pelicans.

This past 2021-22 season, Louzada was included in the blockbuster trade between the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers that sent Blazers guard CJ McCollum to the Pelicans. He only ended up playing in seven games for Portland, averaging 5.0 points, 2.1 rebounds and he shot 12-30 (40.0%) from the floor.

.@didi's first bucket as a Blazer! 🌹 pic.twitter.com/9gNGXrviaR

— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 31, 2022

In total, Didi Louzada has only played in 12 NBA games between the Pelicans and Trail Blazers, as he had to deal with a torn left meniscus early on in his career.

Once a promising looking NBA prospect, Louzada now finds himself as a free agent ahead of the start of a new season, likely taking him off many team’s radars.

Prior to being drafted, he was named the 2019 NBB Most Improved Player and was an All Star while playing with Franca Basquetebol Clube in Brazil.

Being waived in the second season of a four-year contract, Portland will now take a cap hit of about $1.8 million this 2022-23 season, but will not have to pay Louzada any further due to the fact that the final two seasons of his contract were non-guaranteed.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes, the Blazers could look to stretch Louzada’s contract out instead of taking on his full $1.8 million in “dead cap” this season, but they have to make this decision before August 31, the last day to use the waive-and-stretch provision.

After waiving Didi Louzada, the Portland Trail Blazers now sit at 14 guaranteed contracts for the 2022-23 season with three players under contract on training camp deals and one being signed to a two-way contract.