NBA Amnesty Clause: Why Portland Trail Blazers Would Regret Cutting Brandon Roy

One of the new features in the agreed-upon NBA collective bargaining agreement is an amnesty clause that allows each team to release one player whose salary will count just 25 percent against the cap. It appears as though the Portland Trail Blazers are ready to exercise that clause by dumping Brandon Roy.

Roy, who is a three-time All Star, struggled mightily with a significant knee injury last season, and spent much of the year as a reserve. He showed signs of life in the playoffs, but it appears as though the Blazers are ready to be rid of his $15 million-per-year contract.

While the move may make sense for the Blazers fiscally, it is terrible from a public relations sense and a basketball sense as well. According to the report by John Canzano of The Oregonian, Portland is ready to cut ties with Roy as soon as possible, without so much as giving him an opportunity to prove that he's healthy.

Knee injuries have been the deathblow for many NBA players, and that may prove to be the case with Roy. But it seems in bad taste to simply discard a player that has carried the franchise for the past few seasons and been considered one of the best players in basketball.

Roy has had an extended offseason to rest his troublesome knee, and he is just 27 years old, so he conceivably has a lot of good years left, provided his knee holds up over an extended period of time. With that being said, there is a very good chance that Roy will come back to bite the Blazers if he is given his walking papers.

It is rumored that the Golden State Warriors, a Western Conference foe, would be very interested in Roy, especially since Roy's former agent, Bob Myers, is the Warriors' assistant general manager. This means that Roy would have the benefit of facing the Blazers a couple times per year and showing them exactly what they gave up on.

Aside from basketball, though, Roy has been the team's most popular player by far among fans since entering the league. Regardless of whether he can still play effectively or not, cutting Roy will likely be looked upon as a cheap, cost-cutting move by Blazers management, as it should be.

Portland has a decent skeleton outside of Roy, but the Blazers are never going to be a true contender without him, or without a player like him at the very least. The Blazers will still be a solid team, but if the ultimate goal is to win an NBA Championship, then this is the wrong move.

It may not be apparent whether the Blazers cutting Roy is the right move or not for another few years. What is apparent, however, is that Portland's front office cares much more about saving money than it does about pleasing the fans and fielding the best team possible.

Roy is as competitive as they come, and I firmly believe that he will do everything in his power to battle back from this knee injury in order to prove the Blazers wrong. I ultimately think he will succeed in that regard.