Trail Blazers Cut Veteran Wing Just Before Training Camp

Portland is moving on from what had been an intriguing addition.

Jan 17, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Detailed view of a Portland Trail Blazers logo warmup jersey before the game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Just days ahead of the start of team training camp, the Portland Trail Blazers have cut Exhibit 10 training camp wing Henri Drell, according to the league's official transactions log.

Drell seems destined to now suit up for the Trail Blazers NBAGL affiliate squad, the Rip City Remix, as an affiliate player. A 6-foot-9 small forward out of Estonia, Drell made his NBA debut as a two-way player with the Chicago Bulls last year. He had toggled between Chicago's G League club, the Windy City Bulls, and international teams since 2022. Drell appeared in just four contests for Chicago proper, averaging 2.8 points on .400/.333/.500 shooting splits, 1.0 assists, and 0.5 steals per.

With the Windy City Bulls in 2023-24, he averaged 15.6 points on .440/.316/.746 shooting splits, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks a night across 30 regular season G League contests, all starts.

This now cuts Portland's training camp roster to 19 players. Beyond 14 fully guaranteed standard roster contracts and three two-way players, two Trail Blazers are on more fluid deals: small forward Dalano Banton, who put up his best stats ever upon being flipped to Portland from the Boston Celtics midway through the year and is signed to a partially guaranteed deal, and journeyman veteran point guard Devonte' Graham, signed to a non-guaranteed veteran's minimum. Banton seems likely to have the inside track to a deal. In a league that's deeper than ever, Graham may have to try to rehabilitate his upside to rival teams as an affiliate player with Rip City.

Portland's training camp tips off on Tuesday, October 1. The biggest short-term question mark as of this writing is the Trail Blazers' center rotation. $34 million former No. 1 overall draft pick Deandre Ayton seems likely to start the season as the club's primary five, but this year's No. 7 pick, former University of Connecticut Huskies center Donovan Clingan, already showed major defensive flashes in Summer League play, and clearly will get some run. But 2022 All-Defensive Second Team center Robert Williams III and 2023-24 rookie standout Duop Reath are both rotation-level bigs as well. None of these four players is a clean fit at power forward, meaning lineups where that happens could get ugly in a hurry. It seems unlikely that both Williams and Ayton will finish out their contracts while still in Portland, but how soon either player can be moved remains to be seen.

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