Offseason Approach
Keep tinkering to stay in the playoffs
Actual Cap Space
-$66.3 million
Practical Cap Space
-$66.3 million
Projected Luxury Tax Space
$30.8 million
Under Contract (14)
Deni Avdija
Toumani Camara
Sidy Cissoko (non-guaranteed)
Donovan Clingan
Jerami Grant
Scoot Henderson
Jrue Holiday
Jayson Kent (two-way)
Vit Krejci (non-guaranteed)
Damian Lillard
Kris Murray
Shaedon Sharpe
Yang Hansen
Chris Youngblood (two-way)
Potential Free Agents (4)
Caleb Love (restricted – two-way)
Matisse Thybulle (unrestricted)
Blake Wesley (unrestricted)
Robert Williams III (unrestricted)
Dead Cap (1)
Didi Louzada ($268,032)
Projected Signing Exceptions
Non-Taxpayer MLE ($15 million)
Bi-Annual Exception ($5.5 million)
Notable Trade Exceptions
None
First Round Draft Pick
None
Notable Extension Candidates
Deni Avdija (veteran extension – as of October 1)
Jerami Grant (veteran extension – as of July 9)
Scoot Henderson (rookie scale extension)
Vit Krejci (veteran extension – as of July 12)
Kris Murray (rookie scale extension)
Matisse Thybulle (veteran extension – through June 30)
Robert Williams III (veteran extension – through June 30)
Analysis
Before we get into the offseason, let’s take a moment to recognize that the Portland Trail Blazers had a pretty successful season. They brought back franchise icon Damian Lillard despite knowing he’d likely miss the entire season. Following an opening night loss, head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested for his involvement in illegal gaming. Tiago Splitter was installed as the team’s interim head coach and promptly went 42-39. Deni Avdija had a breakout season and was named an All-Star. Several young players took meaningful steps forward in their development. And the Trail Blazers broke a four-year playoff drought before taking a game off the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
All of that played out while the team underwent an ownership transition too. All around, that’s a solid season that sets up for what should be an exciting future.
This summer, Portland has some roster holes to plug. The Blazers also have to handle some key extension talks, decide on re-signing some vets, and figure out some overstuffed positions. Oh yeah, Portland still needs to decide on who is going to coach the team moving forward too. (As of this writing, the Trail Blazers haven’t hired a coach to permanently replace Billups. Splitter is one of the finalists for the job, per reports.)
Before we dive into specific players, it’s important to understand Portland’s financial and roster situation. The Blazers are hitting the offseason over the cap, but under the luxury tax by a very healthy $30.8 million. That’s more than enough room to use the Non-Taxpayer MLE (it will come in right around $15 million), re-sign a free agent or two, and to have room to take back money in trades.
Roster-wise, Portland isn’t looking to fill a bunch of spots. If everyone returns who is under contract, and that’s a good bet to start the summer, the Trail Blazers only have a few standard roster spots open and one two-way spot.
To make it really simple: The Trail Blazers are in a great spot with flexibility this offseason.
Let’s start with Portland’s own free agents, because that’s the most immediately pressing issue. In part, that’s because the Trail Blazers currently don’t have any picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Blazers key free agent is Robert Williams III. Portland can either extend Williams through June 30, which would happen before he even hits the unrestricted marker. Or the Blazers could re-sign Williams when free agency opens. Outside of minor differences, it all amounts to the same questions: Should Williams be back in Portland? If so, what does a new deal look like?
Williams’ first two seasons in Portland amounted in 26 total games played. Last season, Williams largely stayed healthy and the Blazers managed to get 59 games out of the talented big man. Williams did his thing, averaging and impressive 6.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in just 17.1 minutes per game. Williams even shot a somewhat intriguing 9-of-23 from behind the arc too. If that’s the start of the late-career shooting addition that many other bigs have made, Williams becomes an even more interesting player.
Even if the shooting is merely a blip, Williams is an immensely valuable player. Yes, you have to manage his minutes and games, and even then, there is injury risk. But when Williams is available, he’s one of the very best backup centers in the NBA. That has particular value to the Trail Blazers, because as much as Donovan Clingan is improving, he still has moments where gets himself into foul trouble. And Yang Hansen looks like he’s at least another couple of years away from being a regular rotation player.
For Williams, the Blazers center situation gives him some leverage. He’s also got leverage because he’d be an ideal fit with a team like the Los Angeles Lakers at the center spot, and the Lakers have cap space this summer. All of that means Portland probably isn’t getting Williams back on any kind of team-friendly deal.
If Williams’ base market is something around the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Portland can feel comfortable beating that by using Williams’ Bird rights. Something like two years and $36 million, or three years and $54 million, makes a lot of sense, provided that the final season has some team protection. That can come in the form of a team option or a partial/non-guaranteed year. That way, if disaster strikes, the Blazers can be off the hook fairly easily. If things start pushing close to $20 million per season, that’s a bit much for an injury-prone, backup big man, no matter how talented he may be.
Portland’s other established free agent is Matisse Thybulle. He’s coming off a bit of a lost year, as Thybulle only appeared in 30 regular season games. Despite the low game-count, Thybulle performed well in the regular season. He’s still a very good perimeter defender. Thybulle’s once-shaky jumper has really stabilized in Portland and he shot the ball well, even if he remains a fairly low-volume shooter.
The biggest challenge with re-signing Thybulle is that the Blazers are packed full of players at his positions. He’s a true wing and that has him behind Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Jerami Grant, Shaedon Sharpe and even Jrue Holiday (when he’s in an off-ball role) in Portland’s pecking order. That’s a lot of guys. Is Thybulle worth paying $8 to $10 million? Probably. He’s a real 3&D player. Is it worth the Blazers giving him that kind of deal? Maybe not.
If Portland knows that the way to really improve is trade some of their depth on the wing or in the backcourt, then having Thybulle back in the fold on a reasonable deal makes a lot of sense. If the Blazers are planning to keep most everyone, then they’re probably better off not spending that kind of money to keep Thybulle.
Sometimes two-way players go overlooked as important free agents, but Caleb Love proved last season that he can play. Portland should do what they can to either get Love on the roster this year on a long-term standard deal. Or they can bring him back on a two-way contract to open the season, then eventually have a plan to convert Love to a standard deal in-season. He’s an ideal third or fourth point guard.
On the trade front, the Trail Blazers have a lot of salary they could move. Jerami Grant’s contract no longer looks nearly as onerous, as he only has two years left on his deal. Jrue Holiday’s contract is in a similar boat. Shaedon Sharpe is about to start his extension, but his contract lands at a fair value. Putting two of those players together and you have $55 to $70 million in tradable salary. That gets Portland in the mix for anyone who comes on the market.
Another potentially tradable player might be Scoot Henderson. He missed most of last season, but played some of his best basketball when he returned for the stretch run and the playoffs. Henderson is now extension-eligible, but landing a new deal could be tough for him.
As we’ve referenced before, the Blazers backcourt is stuffed full. Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday are both still good on-ball guys. Shaedon Sharpe is locked in long-term at the shooting guard spot. And Deni Avdija has the ball a lot too as a playmaking wing.
That means that where Portland might be willing to go to extend Henderson could be a number that doesn’t make sense for the talented young guard. Despite the Trail Blazers fondness for signing players to extensions, this one might be destined to go into restricted free agency in 2027. And challenging Henderson to have a healthy, “prove it” season isn’t the worst idea, either
There’s also not likely to be any extension movement with any other Trail Blazers. Deni Avdija’s contract is simply too small to extend off of, as he’d top out at just over $20 million in first-year salary. Because Portland extended Sharpe and Toumani Camara, that removed any practical chance of creating cap space to renegotiate-and-extend Avdija. This one likely plays out to unrestricted free agency in 2028.
Kris Murray hasn’t played well enough to earn an extension. Grant is going to see his contract play out too. Williams or Thybulle could technically be extended through June 30, but they’re getting new deals either way.
The Portland Trail Blazers have all the pieces in place to stay a playoff team, even in a deep Western Conference. Getting Damian Lillard back will be a huge boost, even if he’s more limited than he was when he was last a Trail Blazer. Re-signing Robert Williams III or replacing him via the Non-Taxpayer MLE is key. And don’t rule out a big trade. Portland has the movable salary, plus some additional draft capital via the Milwaukee Bucks, to get involved in trade discussions for anyone who becomes available. This team is set up for another playoff push, and maybe even a further step of winning a round next spring.