With the franchise player back, it adds value to the team going into a bidding war to sell it. I don't think Vulcan is worried about financial flexibility given they're selling the team but having a brand is worth a little extra expense going into bidding.
See JJJ extension. Grizz needed cap space to offer that. Markenan, Sabonis, etc. with vets can only give so much of a raise on extensions. If guys are max players it's not an issue but lower salaries like these mentioned players extensions can have much lower limits without cap space.
well, to start with, yes, the extension would begin in 2028. There are no option years at the end of Avdija's current contract. IIRC, If the Blazers would have had major cap-space next summer, it could have been a 3 year extension beginning in the 2028-29 season. Without cap-space the max base salary the Blazers could have given him would be 140% of last salary. His final salary of his current contract is 11.875M. 140% of that is 16.6M....which will likely be less than the non-tax MLE that season the reason this has been a point of discussions is that while people are really happy about Deni's budget contract, many see the reality that it means Deni will be UFA in 2028. Obviously, Portland can give Deni and extra year and higher step raises....but, they reportedly offered Aldridge those things and it didn't matter. The risk of having a UFA remember now....the months-long discussion was about extending an existing contract. It wasn't about using Bird Rights as leverage to re-sign a UFA
I think the cap space is needed because the team renegotiates the current year salary (gives a raise) and then can have larger future seasons.
The other thing is that free agents of Deni's caliber almost never hit the open market anymore. A lot of teams could make a run at him. I'm hoping Cronin will not pull a Neil and actually get a feel from Deni. If it doesn't seem like he will re-sign, you move his ass.
I'm not positive but I don't believe that's true. Teams and players can agree to cancel an option year and backtrack to the last guaranteed year and extend based upon that season (like we've been discussing about Camara). But Deni has no option years and the only way they might cancel any of the three remaining years (assuming the CBA actually allows it) is for both the team and player to agree to tear up the contract and both lose Bird Rights again....I'm not sure what the CBA allows but guaranteed ciontract years are difficult to alter
On the flip side teams almost never have cap space any more. Some project to have it now - but we get a bunch of the extensions locked up in the next 6 months and most of that could evaporate. Doubt Deni would want to go to a rebuilding Nets/Jazz type of team. Yes the 6ers had space last summer but that is about the only competitive team recently that has.
100% correct. Myles Turner is the last one to do so that I recall. To get Deni to ~$40M/yr starting salary for an extension (prior to becoming an UFA) -> Portland would need his current contract to end at $28.5M [$40M / 1.4 max raise percentage]. Deni currently makes ~$12M in the '27-'28 season. Portland can give Deni a raise in the '27-'28 season, but ONLY if they are below the cap. To be able to increase Deni's '27-'28 salary from $12M to $28.5M - Portland would need to be under the cap by ~$16.5M [$28.5M - $12M] that season. To get Deni to a $50M/yr extension -> Portland would need to be under the cap by ~ $24M. But all this is likely a moot point. Deni is likely to enter UFA status in July '28. Portland will be able to offer him up to a maximum contract to stay. Unfortunately, other teams may also be able to offer him a max contract for him to move... It all depends on where Deni wants to be/play.
It can happen. See Myles Turner. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...-turner-reach-2-year-60m-extension-agent-says
yeah the Blazers will have the leverage of Bird Rights. Yes, they can give him a guaranteed 5th season, like they did with Grant. But the 4th year would be when he's 31 and he'd likely be getting a 5th year anyway...along with more seasons, from a new contract. And he might be able to leverage more money at 31 than at 32 so, while that 5th year would have some appeal, it may not be as much leverage for Portland as people are thinking. The differential between 8% step raises and 5% step raises is significant. But again, if Deni isn't happy in Portland that step raise differential may not be much leverage either
The thing is, he doesn't have to be an UFA during free agency. Blazers can re-sign him before that and I think they would.
Yes. It could happen any time between July 2026 and January 2028. Summer of 27 would be most likely for an extension.
Blazers cannot give Deni a big raise without cap space. So no Blazers wouldn't be able to sign him until July 8 2028. They now could discuss a new contract a few days earlier than other teams
Incorrect. That is why we have had the same damn conversation over & over for the last 2 weeks. I guess Blazers CAN resign him before he gets to UFA.... But the MAX they can offer him is 140% of his last year of his contract ($12M) or of the MLE of that season (~$17M). So the first year of his extension would be ~$24M/yr. That's the equivalent to a 4-yr - $100M contract. The way Deni played last year, I'm guessing he is going to be paid more than that.... Yes - it was in the middle of the season. The bump to his salary was for that CURRENT year that he was playing.
