So after the Dame signing it appears we are about $3m ($3 million) below the luxury tax this 2025-26 year so we probably do minimal moves the rest of this season. Next summer our cap currently projects as below (please let me know of any updates); https://www.spotrac.com/nba/portland-trail-blazers/overview/_/year/2026 2026-27 NBA cap limits project as 165.0m cap, 200.0m luxury tax, 209.0m 1st apron, 222.0m 2nd apron NTMLE 15.0m TaxMLE 6.1m roomMLE 9.4m BAE 5.5m https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap Here's some of the potential pending items this summer that could impact next year cap; 1a. Camara extension deadline, deadline 10/20/2025? 1b. If no extension done, Blazers can opt to have him as a 2026 RFA - anyone know date? 1c. Without 1a or 1b Camara will be a 2027 UFA but very low 2026-27 salary 2. Sharpe extension deadline 10/20/2025 - w/o extension $25.2m cap hold as a RFA 3. Rupert extension deadline 10/20/2025? - w/o extension $3.0m cap hold as a RFA 4. Kris Murray $5.3M guarantee for 2026-27 - deadline of 10/31/2025 5. Thybulle UFA - extension deadline of 6/30/2026 6. Timelord UFA - (ext unlikely)
Also I'll list draft picks just to list all future assets in one spot. 1st round picks 2026 PDX pick 1-14 (*to Chicago if 15-30 until 2028) 2027 PDX* 2028 ORL pick unprotected 2028 PDX* 2028 MIL unprotected swap 2029 Best of PDX-BOS-MIL unprotected 2029 Worst of PDX-BOS-MIL 2030 PDX 2030 MIL unprotected swap 2031 PDX 2032 PDX 2033 PDX (can be traded July 2026) 2nd round picks 2026 MEM if 43-60 2027 MIN 2027 ATL (Hansen trade - any protections?) 2028 PDX* (to Chicago if above 1st round pick doesn't convey) 2028 SAC (Hansen trade - any protections?) 2029 IND/WAS (less favorable) 2030 NYK 2031 PDX 2032 PDX 2033 PDX(can be traded July 2026)
Current cap space without extensions to Shae or Camara and cutting all of Thybulle/Timelord/Murray/Rupert have us at; 129,000,070 (Spotrac active roster) 268,032 Didi Louzada dead money 25,199,949 Sharpe cap hold 2,723,938 incomplete roster charge at x2 1,361,969 each =157,191,989 165.0m cap 7.8m estimated cap space Doesn't seem like it will make sense to use such little cap space - so unless Blazers have a trade cutting salary we probably stay above the cap. We would likely have the full NTMLE at 15.0m which can be used in a trade effectively like cap space though. Also would have the 5.5m BAE (bi-annual exemption)
well, without Dame's salary, it was possible the Blazers could have had around 20M in space. That ship has sailed though, and it may have not really ever been in the harbor. Camara and his new deal might become a pretty interesting situation. If the Blazers pick up his option and he plays for that 2.4M salary in 2026-27, then he'd be UFA in July 2027. That would be scary for the Blazers it could be that if Camara and the Blazers can't reach agreement on an extension this season, Portland could decline his option and instead submit a QO after 3 seasons, making him RFA in 2026. Now I'm not exactly sure of this process. Camara would certainly meet the 'starter' criteria and Portland could submit a maximum QO "If the Portland Trail Blazers decline Toumani Camara's 2026-27 team option, they could extend him a qualifying offer to make him a Restricted Free Agent . The maximum salary Camara could be offered in a new contract, either by the Blazers or another team they would then have the right to match, depends on his years of experience and the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) rules for rookie scale contracts and free agency. According to a CBA breakdown, players with 0-6 years of experience are eligible for a maximum salary of 25% of the cap. For the 2026-27 season, this would mean a maximum salary of $40,806,150. However, this amount could change depending on the actual cap for that season. It's important to note that the team could also choose to extend a Maximum Qualifying Offer instead of the standard qualifying offer. This allows for a five-year contract with 8% raises and could potentially reach a higher total value over the years if the team intends to match any offer he receives.The specifics of Camara's qualifying offer, and the maximum offer he could receive, would depend on his draft position and whether he meets the Starter Criteria (meeting minimum playing time or starting thresholds). If he qualifies as a Starter, his qualifying offer could be increased, potentially setting a higher baseline for his future contract negotiations" I'm not sure how being a 2nd round pick might change the math maybe this has been the plan all along. It could give Camara a contract larger than the 4-year/89M extension we've been talking about
I didn't think 2nd round picks could get such a large contract after their 3rd season. I think the NBA didn't want rules where it could conceivably be super beneficial to be pick #31 over #30. Someone else probably knows the exact rules. Prior CBA also had Gilbert Arenas rules and Jeremy Lin type restrictions which limited it. Actually I think Austin Reeves was in that exact situation two years ago and only could be resigned for a max of 50-60 million by the Lakers. I think other teams could have offered him much more as a RFA though (but still far less than max) but the Lakers could have matched a 90-100 million type deal. The Lakers were restricted from offering it. People thought SAS might offer that but nobody did so LA got him back on that cheap 50 million deal.
I was kind of surprised that Camara didn't sign a deal in early July. You'd think the Blazers and his reps all know the limits and would get him close to that amount. One idea could be if Camara just wants to get out of his national team responsibilities this summer and will use the contract as an excuse, I believe there was a story from his agent about that. Once national team work is done he'll agree to a deal and then he can't get any flack for not supporting his national team.
Per Camara items above; 1a. Camara extension deadline, deadline 10/20/2025? 1b. If no extension done, Blazers can opt to have him as a 2026 RFA - anyone know date? I'm guessing 1b date is 6/29/2026 - that is if the Blazers decline his option at or before that date next summer he would then become a restricted free agent. Per spotrac upcoming deadlines;
Interesting that some ESPN article of upcoming extensions mentions that a Camara extension would reduce the Blazers 2026 cap space. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...lved-storylines-kuminga-giddey-luka-extension "Toumani Camara of the Portland Trail Blazers is also a candidate, though extending him would make it more difficult for the Blazers to create significant cap room next summer. " I only really see that cap space being a consideration if we move on from Sharpe during this season and thus remove his 25 million cap hold. If we traded Sharpe for lets say an expiring plus picks all the sudden we'd have 32 million of cap space. I wonder if thats a possible option the Blazers want to consider or at the least leave open? It would seem to me if we are going to move on from Sharpe it needs to be a trade before the February deadline as next summer we'd be getting almost zero value back if we traded him elsewhere or let him walk. I guess the other possibility to cap space would be if we can move either Jrue/Grant for expiring's during the season.
that's how I understand it. Just googled: the 21st pick in this years draft signed a deal with the 1st year salary being 3.5M. Next year that should be around 3.7-3.8M so that would be Camara's QO....maybe. I'm not sure what his max salary would be in his 4th season, after receiving a 'starter-criteria' QO. 25% of the cap? less? I'd have to think that the Blazers really don't want Camara to become RFA....unless they already have a tentative deal in place that is bigger than that 4-year/89M deal we've been talking about. If Camara, as an RFA, is out there fielding offers from other teams it would be pretty risky. Blazers could match, but they might be matching a pretty crazy contract and yeah, it looks like the deadline for a Camara extension in around Oct 20....the last day before the regular season begins Sharpe and Camara are eligible for extensions. I'd think at least one of them will sign this summer, but maybe not. IIRC, Thybulle and Timelord are eligible too, but it's unlikely they get one
