What To Do With Three Young Extension Eligible Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers are endowed with young, talented wings. The Summer of 2025 should highlight that reality, as Shaedon Sharpe, Toumani Camara and Rayan Rupert go into the summer eligible for their rookie-contract extensions.

Sharpe and Camara have established themselves as key members of Head Coach Chauncey Billups’ rotation. Rupert is still a project, searching for his place in the league. It’s unlikely all three get locked in by General Manager Joe Cronin. He could also opt to let all three get to free agency over the next 24 months.

Despite being signed for two more seasons, Camara is extension-eligible after being signed to a four-year deal by the Phoenix Suns. Sharpe and Rupert are destined for restricted free agency next summer, if not extended.

A bit of background. Rookie-scale extensions allow for players to receive up to 25 percent of the team’s salary cap in the first season, which in 2026-27 should sit just above $40 million a year. This can be followed by 8 percent rises in each subsequent year.

However, there are pitfalls of extending players. If a front office does an extension before deciding to trade him the following season, they face complications with the poison pill provision.

This means, if traded, the player’s incoming value for the receiving team would be the average of his current-year salary and the annual salary in each year of his extension. While his former team treats his much-lower current-year salary as the outgoing figure.

This makes getting salaries to match a heck of a lot trickier, especially in the modern “apron” climate.

The question for Portland will be, do they make an early offer on any of these players?

Shaedon Sharpe

Age: 21 (22 on May 30)
Years of experience: 3
24-25 stats: 72 games 18.4 points, 31.1 3pt%, 45.2 FG%, 4.5 boards, 2.8 assists, 0.9 steals
25-26 salary: $8.4 million

Enigmatic to the nth degree, Sharpe has shown glimpses of superstar talent. He’s also intensified his aggressiveness on the court.

But after missing 50 games last season combined with his tendency to go missing for periods, question marks continue to follow him.

The Canadian also lost his starting role earlier in the season, thanks to his subpar play on the defensive end. But the 21-year-old bounced back, looking more locked in. If he’s able to maintain that intensity while ensuring consistent engagement and production on offense, he could get to max territory one day.

The Blazers are giving him every chance to get there. This season, he averaged 15.3 field goal attempts, 6.6 three-point attempts and 25.1 percent usage. To put this in context, veteran Jerami Grant averaged 12.2 attempts from the field, 6.3 from three with a usage of 19.4 percent.

Sharpe could think he’s worth a large figure but I wouldn’t give it to him just yet. If the Blazers can extend him for a sub-$30 million-a-year deal, you do that in a heartbeat. If he demands more, the franchise needs to wait until restricted free agency.

Toumani Camara

Age: 24 (25 on May 8)
Years of experience: 2
24-25 stats: 78 games, 11.3 points, 37.5 3pt%, 45.8 FG%, 5.8 boards, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals
25-26 salary: $2.2 million

As mentioned, Camara’s situation is a little different. The fact that he’s a second-round pick signed to an unusually-long four-year deal, means he bypasses restricted free agency and goes straight to unrestricted free agency in 2027.

But the Blazers have options. If they still weren’t willing to extend him this time next season, they could still protect him from other interested teams. Cronin could decline Camara’s fourth-year option and extend a qualifying offer, prompting Camara’s restricted free agency in 2026.

Earlier this week, the NBA announced Camara had finished ninth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He now looks primed for All Defensive team berth this season.

The relatively seasoned sophomore has announced himself as a one of the league’s premier stoppers, able to guard everyone from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Nikola Jokic. He’s also shown offensive ability. Namely a knack for hitting the three, particularly above the break, where he’s draining 40 percent.

Of the three names on this list, Camara could be the closest to an extension, given his body of work over the past 18 months. But the Belgian might have other ideas. I wouldn’t begrudge him trying to prove himself again next season, in the hope of further raising his value before either his fourth season or restricted free agency.

If the Blazers can get Camara for anything under $25 million a season, they do it. If his asking price is larger, both parties probably reassess where they are this time next year. While he might be more impactful than Sharpe as a two-way player, defense typically pays less than offense.

Rayan Rupert

Age: 20 (21 on May 31)
Years of experience: 2
24-25 stats: 52 games, 3.0 points, 27.1 3pt%, 40.8 FG%, 1.3 boards, 0.5 assists, 0.3 steals
25-26 salary: $2.2 million

In this instance, we’re assuming the Blazers pick up Rupert’s third year option at the end of June. I’m less concerned about extending Rupert, especially if he’s a trade piece over the next 12 months and you want to avoid in poison pill complications.

Though the statistics haven’t necessarily suggested it, the former second round pick looked much better in year two. The handle was tighter, the shot smoother and he looked more comfortable on the court.

Rupert still carries high-ish upside given his physical gifts and perceived skillset. The 20-year-old should be given time to explore it. If he’s roughly in the same position this time next season, then there might be cause for concern. For now, there’s nothing suggesting we should be worried about him.

The Blazers have no reason to extend Rupert just yet. He likely reaches restricted free agent or gets included in a trade over the next 12 months.

Conclusion

If the Blazers were going to extend one of the three, Camara is probably best placed. However, with up to two years left on Camara’s current deal, Joe Cronin still has time to get a better sense of what the Belgian is worth.

Sharpe exudes star without having been able to put it on the court regularly. It would be verging on reckless for the Blazers to hand him a max extension right now, even though he was healthier this season.

I have no idea how Cronin perceives Rupert, but for now there’d be no reason for the Blazers to think about extending the Frenchman until he finds more consistent production.

As I say almost every week, this will be a telling summer for the Blazers, with extensions only one area Cronin will need to consider. Nonetheless, locking in promising young players on fair deals before free agency will always benefit the franchise down the road.

[Editor’s Note: The Blazers do have the potential to generate usable cap space in the Summer of 2026 when several veteran contracts are currently scheduled to expire. Obviously extending young players at a higher rate would adversely impact that cap space potential. Should the Blazers retain their veteran free-agents-to-be, increasing the salaries of younger players could push them into the luxury tax.]