The Portland Trail Blazers’ front office made a few high-risk, befuddling decisions this offseason; on the eve of the final day that 2022 NBA draft picks are eligible for rookie extensions, they made two moves that were anything but.
The Blazers signed Toumani Camara to a four-year, $82 million extension that begins in the 2026-27 season, and signed Shaedon Sharpe to a four-year, $90 million extension within the span of an hour on Sunday.
Trail Blazers Totally In On Toumani Camara
It’s hard to see either extension as anything but a massive win. In the case of Camara, who just made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team last season and shot 37.5% from three on 4.6 attempts, he’s the exact type of player every championship-minded team covets. To get him for less than $21 million per year is a complete steal.
Camara now costs less per year than Jaden McDaniels ($26.2 million per year), Herb Jones ($22.3 million), and is half the price of OG Anunoby ($42.4 million). He was a better defender than all three of them last season, as voted on by the NBA media.
Anunoby’s offensive production far surpasses that of Camara’s, but Anunoby saw a heavily increased role on that side of the ball last season with his teammates injured; regardless, six points per game is not worth $20 million a year.
Camara will be an every-night starter for the Blazers for the entirety of his new contract. Last season, he guarded the opposing team’s best player, outside of centers, for the most part, every night. He’s now locked up until 2030 and will be cemented as the nucleus of Portland’s newfound defensive identity.
Shaedon Sharpe Could Blow By His Contract Value
With Sharpe, the water is much murkier in terms of just how good his contract will look in the future. On one hand, of players who shoot at least six threes a game, he is the second-worst three-point shooter in the NBA, and he’s been benched for his defense once already.
On the other hand, he’s a 22-year-old who’s missed a year and a half of substantial development between skipping college and injuries, has the highest in-game vertical in the NBA, and was second in the league in shot-making efficiency at the rim last season.
Shaedon could turn his contract into one of the best ones in the entire NBA with how obviously high his ceiling is; but at worst, if his shooting and defense never turn around, he could be a dangerous one-man bench scoring punch, and his $22.5 million AAV won’t break the bank for a player who is as good a scorer as him in that role.
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Portland Poised for a Big Move
With Camara, the Blazers jumped on the opportunity to lock in a player they know will be useful to them for whenever they burst into the playoffs. With Sharpe, they mitigated the risk of him flaming out into an inefficient scorer and negative defender by getting him to agree to a very reasonable price point.
Both moves bolster the Blazers’ growing core of intriguing role players and maintain future flexibility. With the chest of draft assets they’ve collected from Milwaukee, Memphis, and their own picks, plus some expensive contracts in Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday that could be used as a salary match, the option to pursue an All-NBA level star, if one were to become available, is in the center of the table.
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