Historically, chasing restricted free agents (RFA) has been a lost cause for NBA teams. In most cases a player will sign an offer sheet with a new team, only to have his original team match the contract three days later and retain the player.
The Portland Trail Blazers, however, are in a unique position and may be able to use their salary cap space, Paul Allen's deep pockets, and some fancy contract negotiation to buck the trend and successfully lure restricted free agents over the next couple seasons. In this article I'll lay out three different strategies for successfully acquiring RFAs and review how they apply to the Blazers.