Jeremy Sochan heads for free agency Monday after the Blazers leave their 15th spot open

Jeremy Sochan is set to hit unrestricted free agency on Monday, October 19, unless a team claims him first, after the Portland Trail Blazers released the 23-year-old forward on Saturday.

Marc Stein was first to report the cut. It ends a short Portland stay for the ninth pick of the 2022 draft, who signed a one-year, non-guaranteed camp deal with the Blazers in August, a few months after winning a title in New York.

Why Portland let him go

The Blazers did not need the spot for anyone else. With Sochan gone, Portland is carrying 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals, so the 15th standard seat stays empty. Reports in Portland noted that keeping him would not have pushed the club over the luxury tax line; the front office simply chose flexibility over a former lottery pick who never locked down a rotation role in camp.

His preseason did not force the issue. In four exhibition games he averaged 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 12.3 minutes, making 62.5 percent of his field-goal tries. That leaves Portland thin at forward behind Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara, a gap the team now plans to cover from inside the current group.

A career in three cities

San Antonio spent three and a half seasons trying Sochan almost everywhere, including stretches running the offense and minutes as a small-ball center. He topped 11 points a game in each of his first three years there before his role shrank, and the Spurs waived him after last season’s trade deadline. The Knicks picked him up, gave him 16 games before the playoffs and eight more during the postseason run, and he finished the year with a championship ring.

Across 228 regular-season games he has put up 9.9 points, 5.4 boards and 2.5 assists per night. The weak spot has always been shooting: he is a 28.6 percent career three-point shooter, the number that makes teams hesitate to put him on the floor next to non-spacers.

What comes next

A player waived on Saturday clears on Monday. Any club with an open roster spot can still claim his non-guaranteed contract before then; if nobody does, Sochan is free to sign anywhere, including a two-way deal or a minimum contract with a team that wants a defender who can guard several positions.

The Blazers open their season at home against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, October 21, at 10 p.m. ET (Game Center).